The Shortest Harvest Of My Life!
What a hectic time! Only four
weeks of harvest, very unusual for South Africa. In
November last year I came home to notice the healthiest
and most well-balanced crop I have ever seen on Saxenburg.
The rain (110mm) during November was perfect to maintain
the growth in all the vineyards. The temperature was
also very comfortable for nature and human to commence
their duties.
But between Christmas and New
Year the whole situation changed drastically because
of very high temperatures over four days. The maturity
galloped and we lost some grapes due to sunburn. Luckily
it became cooler, but the maturity also slowed down
and at one stage it was as if it had stagnated. From
the end of January the weather changed to warm and
dry and remained so till the end of February.
All of a sudden all the grapes
were ripe at the same time and setting priorities was
very important. Because of Saxenburg's advance planning
we had no problem with this because the harvest machine
is fast and effective. I could wait till optimum ripeness
of all the grapes before I harvested them. For this
vintage I was also the operator of our machine, and
now know all our vineyards from 2 metres above which
gave me a clear indication of the quality of our vineyards
and soil.
We started off with Pinotage
on the 29th January, very full-ripe but with firm berries
and nice acid. A week later we harvested Sauvignon
Blanc and from there on it was chaos. We harvested
every day of the week till the end. Our cellar was
under big pressure, but seeing that we harvest twice
a year it was not a problem to make quick decisions
for proper vinification. Everything went well and although
the red wines are higher in alcohol I did not have
any problems with stuck fermentation. Well done to
Louis Strydom and his team who received their orders
during the day via radio and cellular phone (it could
have been an excellent theme for a Vodacom advert).
The Wines
This vintage I am vinifying less
white wine because of the very low production. Sauvignon
Blanc only 50% of a normal production, Chardonnay was
also less 15% whereas the Chenin Blanc was less 10%.
The Sauvignon Blanc is full-bodied, soft, fruity
but with smooth acids, higher extracts and alcohol,
more green figs and flowery - an elegant early drinking
wine. The Chardonnay is also very full-bodied, nutty
and citrus, nice fruit but with a full-ripe character
which can mature well in the wood.
The red wine is a big sensation.
We harvested at full-ripe stage with high concentration
of colour, fruit and tannins. The Pinotage is plummy
and very well balanced, the Merlot more black fruit
and mulberries with very fine tannins, the Cabernet
Sauvignon also black fruit and chocolaty, very dark
colour, long fruit and huge finish with dry tannins.
With the Shiraz it was a real pleasure - we have
a big variety of different wines but all are of excellent
quality and Saxenburg can offer even more with the
outstanding 1997 vintage, wines with deep black colours,
smokey, peppery, the very typical Shiraz stink, nice
tannins but enormous finish and balance between the
alcohol, tannins and fruit. 1998 in my opinion was
'the' year for growing Cape Shiraz of outstanding
quality. Most of the old vineyards could produce
the best because of the early vintage.
So, the shortest harvest in my
life can produce some of the best wines of my career.
Let's wait for the surprises.
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