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IF heaven
were a place on earth, it would
have to be Stellenbosch. It is
harvest time in the Boland, and
you can actually smell the
excitement in the air. It also
means that it takes a little
longer to get to the office in
the morning, being stuck behind
little tractors filled with
grapes, but you will not hear me
complaining about fewer hours
behind the computer!
I asked a few
of our winemakers and
viticulturists for some inside
info, and I am happy to share
some of their comments. |
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Delheim's
viticulturist,
Victor
Sperling,
gives
a
graphic
description
of
the
weather
conditions
in
the
run
up
to
the
harvest.
“With
the
cool
weather
up
to
the
18th
of
January,
and
a
little
rain
the
week
before,
everything
looked
exceptionally
healthy,
with
an
average
to
big
crop.
A
week-long
heat-
wave
was
followed
by a
thunderstorm
with
high
humidity
and
no
wind.
It
was
critical
to
get
the
grapes
dry
as
quickly
as
possible;
spray
pumps
with
only
the
fans
blowing
air
through
the
vines
did
the
trick.
A
further
thunderstorm
with
rain
and
cold
weather
followed
but
good
wind
soon
dried
that
out.”
Canopy management has
obviously been vital, as Sperling
reckons sauvignon blanc, gewürztraminer
and fungal disease-prone shiraz have all
survived with good analyses and
flavours.
Mulderbosch's Mike
Dobrovic enthused about the fresh,
grassy aromas of sauvignon blanc, which
he took in on 25 January and prior to
the heatwave at the end of that week.
The Eikendal team was
also upbeat about early pickings of
chardonnay for Cap Classique and still
wine, pinotage and sauvignon blanc. At
that stage, prior to the rain, the
quality looked 'fantastic', with the
whites in particular having superb ripe
fruit.
David Trafford has
already laid out chenin blanc on racks
for his straw wine. Other chenin has
been pressed and is undergoing natural
fermentation in barrels. Trafford says
that despite the heat and 31mm of rain,
everything looks good, but 'on a knife
edge'.
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IN
the Bottelary Hills, Hartenberg's winemaker,
Carl Schultz, started their harvest on 29
January with chardonnay; all the sauvignon
was in the cellar by the 9th of February, as
was the first of the pinotage.
Currently, he
reckons conditions are good to
excellent with flavour intensity,
profile of the fermenting whites and
colour and concentration of the reds
all superb.
For those of
you not fortunate enough to live in
the winelands, visit
www.winefilms.co.za to watch videos
of the 2008 harvest. |
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FESTIVAL
time has come around earlier
than usual this year. Sure,
the Stellenbosch Wine
Festival will be held in
August, as usual, but this
week already sees the first
Stellenbosch festival where
the Wine Routes are
involved.
The
festival in question is the
US Woordfees, an
extremely popular cultural
happening that began as an
intimate literature reading
nine years ago. Today it is
a real happening, bringing
literature, art, drama and
music to all parts of
Stellenbosch. This year’s US
Woordfees is being held from
3 to 9 March, and the Wine
Routes are involved in a
joint venture with
Wegbreek magazine, with
the aim to provide a
mini-wine route in the very
heart of Stellenbosch.
On Friday
7 and Saturday 8 March
restaurants and bars in the
Andringa, Ryneveld, Church
and Victoria Street regions
will team up with various
Stellenbosch wineries. This
will allow visitors to pop
in for a glass of wine and
possibly a snack at each of
the participating venues. |
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Visitors can look forward to the
following:
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Cape Town Fishmarket is
offering tastings with
Skilpadvlei and Asara. |
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L’Avenir wines will
accompany the Green Gate
Deli’s famous buffet. |
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Middelvlei is holding a
wine tasting on the veranda
at Beads Restaurant. |
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Visitors to D’Ouwe Werf
can taste wines from Neil
Ellis and Vergenoegd. |
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Brazen Head is hosting
winetastings in conjunction
with Flagstone and Welmoed. |
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Binnehof Restaurant is
offering wines from Knorhoek
and Groenland. |
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Stellenzicht is doing a
Pinotage and Poetry event at
the Wijnhuis. |
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Wijnhuis Restaurant is
also offering tastings of
Middelvlei, L’Avenir,
Mooiplaas and Morgenster. |
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• |
L’Olive Restaurant is
offering a C.Louis Leipoldt
menu, with all dishes paired
with a glass of Spier wine. |
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Hartenberg wines are on
show at Cognito Restaurant. |
For more information, contact
Magdel on 021 808-2901 or
woord@sun.ac.za. Full details
are also available on
www.woordfees.co.za or
www.wineroute.co.za. |
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“I still cannot get
over the food at Overture
Restaurant at Hidden Valley. I
have NEVER ever tasted something
like that before, the food is SO
CLEAN (for lack of a better
word), I don't know how they do
it, but I would recommend this
place to anyone who loves
simple, good, honest food.
I
JUST CANNOT GET OVER THEIR FOOD,
it is the best thing - I watch
BBC Food a lot and I look at the
food and wish it would come out
of the TV, and last week, IT
DID!!! The venue, well what can
I say, breathtakingly
beautiful!” |
Annareth Jacobs, Ntombifuthi
Matseke and John Faure |
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WEDNESDAY 20 February marked the birth of a
new Route in the Western Cape. Known as “The
Ghoema Route” the inception of the Route
revolves around the desire to see the
restoration of pride in the history,
traditions and customs of the colourful Cape
population.
The Ghoema is
a musical instrument made originally
by the slaves in the early history
of the Cape by taking a small wine
barrel, removing both lids and
stretching a skin over the top end
to form a drum. Its dual
characteristics make this a perfect
symbol for the development of
Culture and Wine tourism – the
essence of the Ghoema Route.
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The Route
meanders along the R44 from Gansbaai,
Stanford, Hermanus, Kleinmond (Overberg),
Betty’s Bay, Gordon’s Bay through
the Strand, Somerset- West (Cape
Metropole), Stellenbosch, Klapmuts,
Paarl, Wellington, Hermon (Cape
Winelands) and enters the West-Coast
via Riebeeck Valley, Tulbagh,
Porterville and Piketberg, Velddrif,
Vredenburg - ending in Paternoster.
Coast to coast it is brimful of
scenic attractions, rich in cultural
and viti-cultural diversity – the
many festivals en route far
exceeding the number of weekends per
year. |
Thus the
inception of the new Stellenbosch Cape Dutch
Architecture Route. The number of enquiries
received on a monthly basis from visitors
with an eye for architecture and history,
has led to a map of all the Stellenbosch
farms with Cape Dutch architecture. To view
the map, click
HERE. For
more information, visit
www.ghoemaroute.co.za, or
phone 021 559 2958. |
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THIS month I would like to welcome a new
member to the Stellenbosch Wine Routes,
Lovane Boutique Wine Estate. Lovane is
one of our smallest wine estates,
neighbouring the famous Neethlingshof
and Overgaauw. 2.5 hectares of vineyards
were planted on virgin land. The Gous
family did all the preparation,
implementation and planting of the vines
themselves. 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5%
Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot are
the varieties planted. |
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After many hours of hard work
and years of nursing the vines
the first harvest was produced
in 2006. In the interest of
quality, only 13000 litres were
produced. All the grapes were
hand picked and selected on
sorting tables and only the best
grapes were used. A limited
quantity of 1720 bottles of
Blanc de Noir was produced from
the harvest and the rest of the
wines are still maturing in wine
barrels to be released in 2009.
Lunches are available on
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays,
and they also have a guest house
and conference facilities.
To Gail and her family, welcome to our
stable! For more information, visit
www.lovane.co.za
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For those of you driving in and around
Stellenbosch, please be patient with the
little tractors. Remember, they are
carrying Stellenbosch stars in the
making!
Cheers!
Annareth Jacobs
CEO Stellenbosch American Express®
Wine Routes
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