An extremely successful millennium wine vintage in South Africa, even though fires and floods badly affected some Stellenbosch vineyards. The Cape wine region faced an extremely hot, dry summer that tested winemakers' skills, with the heat resulting in small berries, keeping total yields down.

The extremely hot temperatures led to arapid rise in sugar levels and great care was required when vinifying the white varieties. Sauvignon Blanc did not achieve much complexity but some Chardonnays show good depth of fruit and structure. South Africa's indigenous Pinotage grape, which ripens early, had winemakers battling to achieve balance.

Other red wine varieties, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz, ripened fully and display excellent colour and fruit intensity, as well as considerable finesse. The Shiraz-dominated wines in particular were very successful and are the finest since the marvellous 1995s.