"There was a bit of rain in the Hex River Valley, with some rain predicted for the Berg River today, but it's very little. We also understand the showers were not widespread, with certain areas not getting any rain at all," says Jacques Ferreira, manager of information and systems at the South African Table Grape Industry.
The rain that fell is not regarded as problematic, he adds.
Some have stopped packing for the day as a precaution, but the industry is not worried at this stage.
In De Doorns a grape grower says the farm received 7mm, while another grape exporter with multiple farms in the Hex River notes rainfall of between 2mm to 14mm.
"The farms that received 2mm of rain will already be packing tomorrow again."
The Western Cape has been experiencing a heatwave with temperatures of around 40°C, after a spring that remained cool for unusually long. The recent heatwave had, among other factors, caused a decrease of about 25% in production volumes in certain cases in the Olifants River Valley, SATI has noted.
"The heat brought the grapes along very nicely, so there are a lot of ripe grapes," a grape exporter remarks. "So far, we have seen no damage on our grapes caused by rain."
Orange River could top its previous highest grape intake
The Orange River production area could be heading for what might be their highest volume, just over 21.5 million 4.5kg cartons inspected for export, finishing up with Sweet Globe and Autumn Crisp Sweet Celebration and Crimson.
The Berg River is moving into its peak, packing Crimson, Sweet Celebration, Autumn Crisp and Sweet Globe. The Hex River's peak packing will be from week 4 to week 8.