For South African wine regions, the 2010 vintage was a year of highly variable extremes of weather. A mild Spring was followed by a cool period in early Summer, and, with strong winds a consistent factor over much of the growing season, the combination of weather factors caused yields to be lower than usual.

Favourable weather from mid-Summer through to harvest time, however, has produced a vintage of very high quality, esp. in Stellenbosch with the lower yield resulting in wines of high concentration and intensity.