''We've had a few niggly ones but this was the first serious one that had teeth,'' viticulturist Gary Crabbe said after spending the early hours of Friday frost-fighting at Gibbston vineyards.
''I'd never tempt fate and I won't really know the full extent for a few days, but I think some people will be breathing a sigh of relief. It was nothing too catastrophic.''
Bannockburn vineyards appear to have escaped the dip in temperatures, but Alexandra grape-growers were not so fortunate. Lucienne van der Wal, of Immigrant's Vineyard, Alexandra, said it was the sixth time they had been frost-fighting in the past week. The temperature dropped to -5degC on Friday morning, she said.
''The overhead sprinklers were going from 11.30[pm] through to 9am ... our dam is half-empty.''
''The icicles look pretty on the vines in the morning but it's scary to see them. You always feel a bit anxious about whether there's any damage.''
Mr Crabbe said wind machines were the main form of frost-fighting in the Gibbston Valley and they were ''about 90% effective''.
The temperature in one vineyard there overnight on Thursday had dropped to -2.5degC.
He visited quite a few vineyards in Gibbston yesterday and was optimistic there would be little frost damage, even though the vines were entering an ''extremely vulnerable'' stage of growth.
Carrick Wines viticulturist Blair Deaker said: ''Everyone's geared up for it and it's just part of the game.''
