We have just completed the 2017 harvest and all the wines are now entering a time for rest and maturation.
The harvest for 2017 was already determined by the favourable weather conditions we had last year. The cold winter of 2016 gave our vineyards a good and very necessary winter sleep. Spring was late with good rain in September and October, this resulted in even budding of the vines and we then had very good conditions during the flower season, end of October to mid-November. These months normally have more than 200 hours of wind speeds exceeding 5 m/second, in 2016 we only had 130hours per month in those two months which resulted in better berry set and bigger bunches. This was followed by dry, cool ripening conditions in February and March and lead to one of our best harvests ever.
With less wind and adequate water levels in our soil the vines grew well, resulting in strong canopies. With yield and growth all in balance the grapes were of outstanding quality. Working these grapes into wine was just a matter of guidance as nature has already determined the quality of the wines.
We had a small but brilliant team in the cellar with most of us working together for the last 5 years. Annaelle Gallou came back from France to work her second harvest with us, a harvest full of romance as she and Brandon Willemse, one of our cellar assistant’s, got engaged and he will be going back to France with her to start a new career. We wish them much luck and happiness.
We look forward to sharing the 2017 wines with you during the next few years as we release them.
Warm wine regards
Conrad Vlok
Winemaker
