OUR 2020 HARVEST
2020 has been a challenging year all round, and we are not even half-way.
An unseasonally wet January brought threats of black rot and mildew, which were industriously kept at bay.
The cool, weather resulted in the harvest being late in February, giving the birds ample time to find their way through, under and into the protective netting.
Added to this, lower sugar levels and our smallest Pinotage harvest to date (only 600 liters), made for the emphasis once again not being on quantity.
Our challenges were not only viticultural but also technical – from a faulty crusher and destemmer (that was expertly fixed by our farm manager, Evan) to a power outage that lasted more than two days when a pylon collapsed somewhere in the Overberg during a wind storm (not expertly handled nor fixed with any sense of urgency by Eskom).
This caused our Sauvignon Blanc grapes, which were destined for another glorious Blanc Fumé, to be stuck in the press for two days. They have now produced another glorious Witblits (or flavoured grappa, as the locals would have it). Fortunately our 2017 and 2018 Blanc Fumés have improved in the bottle and are probably only now ready for release.
Adversity breeds excellence.
Our 2020 white wines are elegant and light with beautiful crisp acidity.
The reds are lighter and less concentrated than 2019 but with silky smooth tannins and moderate acidity.
Our 2020 Pinotage has flashes of the 2018. It is however more structured and fits nicely between our lighter 2018 and our bold 2019.
It is almost as if the perfect balance has been found with our 2020 Pinotage. We are very excited about this wine!
We started using organic fertilizer and planting cover crops during 2018. This is already producing noticeable results.
Benefitting from additional Lomond grapes, we have produced some beautiful Baardskeerdersbos / Agulhas district Viognier, Nouvelle, Semillon and Syrah. The Viognier, Semillon and Nouvelle are used for “The Bard”, our white blend which just gets better and better.
The 2020 The Bard is really showing nicely at this early stage, with even more sophistication than the 2019, which in turn was more complex than the 2018.
Our Cinsaut this year, bought in from the Paarl area, is super. We will be making one 300 liter barrel of pure Cinsaut (the first since 2016) for those who raved about the last one.
All of our wines finished fermentation prior to lockdown and we were able to safely secure our wines in these unprecedented times.
We are holding thumbs for the easing of restrictions on internet sales, look forward to delivering orders to your doorstep as soon as we can and hope to share our exciting 2020 vintage with you soon!
