We have had one awesome week in harvesting grapes. As mentioned in the previous post, we started off with a cooler, overcast, week. I think this was what the vineyards were waiting for to show its true colours and flavours. The Chenin blanc came in extremely pretty. See Jan Bosman sampling these grapes on his morning walk with George, the rescue Basset hound. News from the Bosman kitchen says that Jan enjoyed the grapes so much that he skipped breakfast.
Getting to the subject of this post, see the pictures below to see the pressed juice and then the settled juice. One of the most visual processes in the cellar. Love it.
When the grapes are pressed it results in the lovely green, cloudy juice. After settling over 48hours we are left with the beautiful clear juice. I will be adding yeast later today – and then we are singing.
This brings me to the video clip you can see on YouTube. It shows our MCC Steen 2012 in the making, fermenting away. This in turn is one of the most audible signs that harvest is in full swing.
Looking back in my notes for 2011, by today – last year, we had taken in our Chardonnay vineyards and the first bit of Chenin blanc for our Adama White blend. This year I have only taken in one barrel worth of old bushvine Chenin without irrigation, which in the heat wave two weeks ago, wouldn’t have made it. And then also the Chenin blanc for our base wine.
This is the view from my office this morning: Cloudy and overcast, but a bit humid.
So we’ve been to the vineyards and what an exciting morning! The Chenin Blanc looks lovely (sun kissed, freckled, sweet but with a lovely level of tartness). See the picture below. I can only imagine what it’s going to look like in the press.
And then for the highlight of the morning – Pinotage testing! The vineyard in question is the same one used by Wellington Wines for their La Cave Pinotage – a wine that has earned them a spot in the inaugural Top 20 Pinotage Classification. It is also the vineyard from where the grapes came for our Top100SAWines lauded Pinotage 2009 and the Cape blend “Erfenis” 2010.
I learnt something new about our viticulturist today. Except for his acute fine eye for detail – he does not like snakes. He spotted the skin of an enormous snake between the rows in our Pinotage vineyard. Luckily at that point we had made up our minds about the grapes. Here is a picture of a part of its tail that fell off when I picked it up. Nice to know our vineyards are bustling with the sounds and the signs of nature.
Today was a great breather from the warmer weather we have been experiencing the last few days. We were very interested to see what the heat`s influence was on our grape`s analysis so this morning we started sampling and testing!
In the photo below, we are testing our Chenin Blanc from a vineyard called Driehoek (or Triangle vineyard). Some of the plantings in this vineyard date back to 1963 and 1979, which makes it quite humbling (note the winemaker and viticulturist not even being a twinkle in our parent’s eyes in those years).
As said in the previous post we had experienced some cloudy weather during flowering, so to make sure that we get samples that paints the best possible clear picture – we are using bunch samples this year.
Results on this vineyard show that we did not have a significantly higher rise in sugar in the last few days, but we did lose a small bit of valuable acidity. Still have a few days before these grapes do come in. In the meanwhile, we will be dreaming of the lovely granny smith and honeysuckle notes released from these little berries. Bliss…
A harvest is made not only in the weeks before picking but starts in the preceding winter. We had a very good winter season, except for the below average rain precipitation. Good, even bud break followed and flowering this year was in cool, sometimes cloudy conditions. We were fortunate that there were no storms and wind damage in flowering which sometimes can be quite severe. The cool weather we experienced in November and December was ideal. January onwards has brought some interesting conditions with temperatures rising above 35oC. This will definitely speed up the ripening process that we have thought, before the heat, will put harvest back some two weeks.
All in all we are still very impressed by good growth and bunches with small berries. The adaptability of the noble vine gives us hope that this harvest will still be of good quality. Its success will depend, in part also, on the decisions we make in regards to water management and the timing of harvesting.
Viticulturist Heinie Nel, Assistant Charlene Ferreira, Hospitality Manager Tina Steenkamp and Operations boffin Martin November raise a glass on Harvest 2012
We were privileged to have Peter May come visit us on his recent trip to the Cape winelands. For those of you who do not know Peter, he is the founder of The Pinotage Club, an international cyber-based fan club for wines made from the Pinotage variety. Peter was awarded Honorary Membership of the producers Pinotage Association in 2004 and was a judge at the annual Pinotage Top 10 Competition in 2004 and 2005. Peter is a wine writer, educator and author. His book PINOTAGE: Behind the Legends of South Africa’s Own Wine has just been published.
A lot has happened since his first visit in 2007 when we were busy with our maiden vintage. Since then we have caught up in London and now again at our Lelienfontein cellar.
Read his post in his popular blog -The Pinotage club, here.
The Pinotage 2009 will only be released at our annual Release weekend in September later this year, but as in the past, we have a reservation list.
Thank you Peter for your comments and that you are spreading the word about a truly amazing grape variety.
Pasella, a trendy Afrikaans lifestyle program, has just arrived here on the farm. We will be featured in their program to be aired on SABC2 on 2 March 2011. The topic is the annual Wellington Harvest Festival (19, 20 and 21 March 2011). We will be hosting our exquisite Long Lunch. See our previous post in regards to details. But now to get back to the shoot. Just have to touch up the lip gloss!
Christian Eedes, South Africa’s well known wine critic, recommend our Adama White Blend 2010 in this months blind tasting in Wine magazine. Chairman’s score 18/20 for this exceptional blend of Chenin Blanc (60%), Chardonnay (20%), Pinot Gris (10%), Viognier (6%) and Semillon (4%). Juicy flavours of pineapple, passion fruit and quince is notable. Notes of spice carrying through to an exciting palate with a mineral finish.
The Adama wine started in 2007 with a beautiful Shiraz blend consisting of Shiraz (85%), Mourvèdre (10%), Primitivo (3%) and Viognier (2%). After creating a lot of excitement especially in the international market, and winning many awards, we have decided to find a suitable partner for the legendary Adama Red blend. It took us two years going back and forth with the blending and tasting of the White blends and after much pondering the Adama White Blend 2010 emerged in September this year.
The story behind the Adama Name
Adam Apollis, nicknamed Adama, was the legendary farm worker and forefather of the many descendants that today still live and work on the estate. Adama stands for generations of employer and employee working together with the same enthusiasm, respect and understanding for the vineyards and natures will. Thoroughly enjoyed by all and thus representing equal ground regardless of differences. The wine celebrates the co-ownership made possible through BEE (Black Economic Empowerment), the result of the Bosman Family and farm workers working together for generations.
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