Cape Fire

Wine producers are used to the crises wrought by weather. Man-made disasters are much rarer. But reports coming in from South Africa claim that a recent fire, apparently started by children, has wiped out between 20 and 40 per cent of the crop in the Simonsberg area. Six farms were badly affected, it seems, including frontrunners Kanonkop, Morgenhof, Warwick and Steenberg.