A
Different Season
Once again it
was a very different season, which also cast some
doubt on the saying that either all even or uneven
years will give the best vintages. At the moment it
is under the control of our global weather conditions
to decide what the vintages will be like. We can only
guess whether it will be a red wine or white wine year.
This
past summer was definitely a perfect growing season
for huge red wines. This was the hottest and driest
season on Saxenburg in my 10 years here, and according
to weather specialists, this was the hottest summer
in 40 years. December was almost 100% wind free and
we only had 20 mm rain in six months. Very healthy
growing and ripening conditions with low expenditure
on spraying chemicals. Due to the consistent and
dry conditions, the grapes ripened very quickly until
mid January, and from then on very slowly. At the beginning
of February we had 15 mm of rain which was just enough
to take the grapes into fullripe conditions. From
the second week in February the harvest was in full
swing, which put immediate pressure on the cellar.
During
the 1999 season, Saxenburg uprooted 25 ha of vineyard
(Chenin Blanc , Weisser Riesling and Gewurtz) which
let us focus on only the vineyards we need.
White
Wines
The warm, dry conditions
were a bit tough on the acids of the wines. By strong
selection and addition of tartaric acid, I managed
to vinify some nice, full ripe, smooth wines. Botrytis
had no chance, so we had very healthy juice quality.
The colour is elegant green with very clean flavours.
Sauvignon Blanc is like the 1998 vintage, figgy , tropical
and well balanced ( no Ascorbic acid addition) The
Chardonnay from 3 different vineyards fermented very
slow using 2 different yeast cultures. The 2000 Chardonnay
will also be 100% wood matured.
Red Wines
This season was a perfect
one for beginners. All the vineyards produced very
nice colours and different flavours. I had to adjust
the acids and one could allow longer skin contact for
more complexity. The wines have an alcohol of 13% -
14%, very low volatile acid and will mature well in
the new Oak barrels. The selection for Private Collection
is easy, and the quality of the estate wines will be
high too. It is hard to mention any specific outstanding
red variety, due to the fact that all 4 (Pinotage,
Shiraz, Merlot and Cabernet) are equally nice, proving
the consistency of Saxenburg's wines.
We also have a new Assistant winemaker who joined
the cellar in January. Koos Thiart grew up in Vredendal
and studied Economics at Stellenbosch University,
before he took on the 3 year Cellar Technology diploma
at Elsenburg. His quiet and open-minded attitude supports
our activities in the Cellar to the full. I hope
that he will be staying with us for some time, in order
to help me with the final lift off of Chateau Capion
as well. |
