A clear signal of the end of summer in the wine calendar is the arrival of harvest reports from numerous wineries, signalling for wine lovers what to expect from the wines of 2026 to be released over coming months and years, and how they were shaped by the weather over the growing and harvesting seasons.
The harvest report that arrived this week from KWV’s chief viticulturist Marco Ventrella is worth sharing for two reasons.
One is that KWV harvests grapes from more than 50 farms across Paarl, Stellenbosch, the Swartland, Perdeberg, Malmesbury, Darling, Elgin, Robertson and Wellington.
This means that their one report gives a pretty good encapsulated picture of the results of the 2025/26 growing and harvesting season across the winelands.
KWV has an incredibly wide wine portfolio, ranging from the iconic Roodeberg and under-R100 Classic Collection (highly recommended for everyday enjoyment and for getting to know the typical flavours of different grape varieties) to premium wines in the Cathedral Cellar and The Mentors ranges.
Wines in the latter two ranges are mostly rated between 4* and 5* in Platter’s, yet are still quite affordably priced, from around R100 to R350.
All worth paying attention to; your entry point depending on palate and pocket.
The second reason is that Ventrella has themed his report around movies and music, an entertaining and non-technical take on wine-growing that also gives insights into nature’s variables and the experiences of the people behind what we eventually put in our glass.
He paints a picture of a season as demanding as it was unpredictable, defined by extremes — a bone-dry winter, relentless wind, high humidity and a late-season heatwave.
The result was earlier ripening of the grapes, leading to one of the earliest, and fastest, harvesting seasons in KWV’s records, with the pressure on to get all the grapes into the cellars in optimal condition.
The summer ripening season started off as Searching for Sugar Man, closely monitoring grapes’ sugar levels, awaiting the “sweet spot” signalling readiness for harvest.
“Harvest officially began on 7 January with chardonnay from Wellington for our Cap Classique,” Ventrella said.
“Like Cool Runnings, things ran smoothly — the early whites with perfect analyses and an abundance of brightness and fruit. February certainly carried a laid-back reggae rhythm with it.
“Through February, humidity and heat arrived with a combo that would have been more appropriate to Good Morning Vietnam, set to the soundtrack of Welcome to the Jungle.
“It was rock ’n roll time, and hot or not, we were bringing in the grapes at a fine pace. The humidity did more to blunt our enthusiasm than it did to the vines.”
Meanwhile, the team were working under a constant threat of forecast rain, necessary during growing season but unwanted during harvest as the added water swells the grapes, diluting flavours and messing with the carefully-monitored sugar/acid balance.
With the forecasts proved wrong, the rain held off until all the white grapes had been picked by the end of February, and then finally poured down in early March, “releasing the tension and offering some respite to the madness of the previous 10 days of harvest”.
“Machine and man alike were strained to breaking point, like One Battle After Another, but we made it out Beyond the Thunderdome. The cellar was full.
“Then, as if all the heat extremes of the season had been saved up, a heatwave hit the next week.
“Temperatures soared above 40C and sugars bounced like Flubber in The Nutty Professor. No one had ever seen anything like this before, and we were pushed to the limits again.
“The grapes (and our universe) kept altering, with grapes ripening Everything Everywhere All at Once. We coped with humour.”
The final cut took place on March 20, with KWV wrapping its harvest a full 10 days earlier than last year.
“We may have stood a little Dazed and Confused as the heavens opened while we waited for our last load to arrive, but we finished triumphant.
“A reminder, once again, of what we can achieve and overcome through teamwork and South African spirit.”
What of the wines? Ventrella says it’s early days, but “the whites are pristine, with bright acidity and tension. The reds are bold, concentrated and generous, with fruit-forward flavour and deep colour”.
As he puts it, in the immortal words of the farmer in Babe, “That’ll do, Pig, that’ll do.”
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