Estate Living Digital Publication Issue 9 September 2015 | Page 8

THE VINES

Drink up diversity

There are 40 wine-producing countries in the world,
making 26 billion tons of wine per year. France tops
the list, producing between 50 and 60 hectolitres or
seven and eight billion bottles a year. South Africa is
seventh and our almost 600 wineries, an increase of
more than 50% since the 1990s, export about 450
million litres of wine around the globe every year.
Annual global demand for our wines is growing
by approximately 24%, thanks mainly to the great
quality and deterioration of the rand against the euro
and dollar and the sector continues to contribute
significantly to our GDP and employment figures.

Yet domestic consumption per capita is low and
we are definitely not considered a wine-drinking
nation, with 63% of South Africans of legal drinkin