Archive for the ‘Harvest 2012’ Category

It is that time of the year, when we have piled our composting materials (grape skins and pips, deforested, chipped alien vegetation and lime) high, mixed these with heavy machinery and now cover the heap for the winter. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently I was contacted in search of clarity on the subject of wine and music !

I think there is a very strong correlation between wine and music.   I have for ten years been promoting music concerts in the barrel cellar of our winery .  In fact tonight we will enjoy a twenty voice choir with the Cape Town Welsh Male voice choir singing in our cellar. The demand from the supporter audience is fantastic with all tickets being sold out !

Our cellar always has classical music playing in it.
Personally, as a winemaker, I enjoy singing and have at times resorted to singing purposefully during difficult emotional times. Wine making ability is totally entwined with ones emotions. A winemaker will not manage to be successful in the cellar if his personal happiness is not firmly in place.

It is this link with music which plays an empirical link between winemaking and music.  Does wine benefit from music directly?   This would always be subjective, but I have my doubts.    Reality points to the passionate winemaker using music as an aid or elixir in his drive to remain happy and focussed on the job at hand !

The personalities of winemakers, musicians and other creative perfectionists are closely linked and passion remains integral to their performance .

Music needs to be part of the completing the correct environment within the wine cellar !

Below some images of our most recent music evenings arranged by the Hermanus Music Society.

Barn Owl:  One of the most widely spread birds in the world !

Our February experience with a newly fledged Barn Owl was quite an extraordinary happening. Every summer for the last eight years our cellar has enjoyed the experience of being host to a fresh brood of barn owl chick(s), normally one, perhaps two chicks would fledge.

Leaving the nest at about 8h00 in the morning and often not flying very far but soon disappearing.  This year in early February I witnessed  “Wolfgang”, my dog, pointing to under an outside table.  There it was, this summer’s owlet!  I captured the animal and put it out of harms reach back into its owl box, but for the next three weeks it never left the close confines of the office courtyard – strangely habituated and sleepily ignoring visitors and onlookers and sometimes twisting its head inquisitively at my camera lens.

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Celebrating the tenth year anniversary of the monthly Music Evenings in our barrel cellar…

At the end of February the tenth year of the monthly music concerts held in our barrel cellar was celebrated by the organizers, the Hermanus Music Society. An incredible program was put forward by Albie van Schalkwyk, of the UCT College of Music and six musicians turned the barrel cellar into a musical dream on this special occasion, while the cellar team tried to keep the bubbling fermenting  Pinot noir tanks quiet during the musicians performance!

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Harvest arrived about two weeks ago on about the 3rd of February 2012.

It has been a fairly calm start with a perpetuating feeling of happiness for this vintage, which has presented itself royally thus far!

Compared to last year, which was a wet year, it has been smooth sailing all along and with one tank of Pinot noir already pressed and ready for maturation, the harvest is passing like a breeze.

Weather conditions have been superb. Only one spell of rain set us back on ripeness a touch, which meant that we now experience a slightly prolonged vintage. We expect to pick Sauvignon blanc, Riesling and Semillon soon.

Today we are harvesting Weisser Riesling grapes. It is a spectacular day out here today – a wind still, gorgeous sunny day with the cooling sea breeze, which will start blowing at around noon.

We marvel at this vintage year so far and in the cellar the Pinot noir fermentation bouquets tantalize the senses and the Sauvignon aromas boast fruity delights!

We have thus far harvested about 53 tons of Pinot noir, 11 tons of Chardonnay and 10 tons of Weisser Riesling and look forward to harvesting the rest of our cultivars before mid March on this  farm.

Sixte Libeau, our harvest intern from France, marvels at the quality of our Riesling grapes

Nigel - Chris's cellar hand at Riesling harvest!

Peter's helping hand.

 

As always, harvest is a time full of excitement and achievement, physical challenge and stimulation. This year is all of that with “a jump in its step”.  How much more encouragement can I offer – come and visit us to take part in the harvest activities and let this fun become ‘our fun’!

Peter and Chris contemplating which variety will be next in line for the pick!

Harvest Interns from the Overberg at Bouchard Finlayson's "boerewors braai"

A pre-harvest gathering was held for interns from neighbouring wine farms and other farms in the Walker Bay wine district.

Young, inspired winemakers from all over the world came together over a glass of Blanc de Mer 2011 and a “boerewors braai” (sausage barbecue) at Bouchard Finlayson on Monday, the 6th February, to celebrate their paths and experiences in the wine industry and to share their experiences with one another.

As stories of faraway home towns such as France, Argentina, Germany, Chile and US were shared over a glass of Sauvignon blanc on the lawn beneath the cellar, the thunder could be heard in the distance and finally, as the last guests were about to leave,  there was a show of lightening bolts all around the cellar. A magical evening where thoughts about terroir, viticulture and oenology were exchanged and the interns once more inspired for the hard work which lies ahead in the next month or so!

Winemakers and Assitant winemakers, who attended the barbecue at BF

It has been a relatively cool in the month of December with only two very warm days and low rainfall (28 mm).

The vines are healthy and vegetative growth has halted on time this year, as the energy within the plant is now produced and used to start the ripening process.   Pinot noir is usually our first cultivar to ripen. With this in mind, Peter Finlayson and Chris Albrecht are making progress with harvest preparation and the new vintage year holds great promise so far!

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Bouchard Finlayson’s 2012 Platter Guide Ratings

“The practical art of the wine maker ends with the bottling of his wines. From this moment on the wine becomes the creative province of the individual wine lover. The relationship between the wine and drinker may be simple or sophisticated. It may be a casual matter of the odd glass of wine over lunch, the occasional bottle with a good dinner, a passing but pleasurable acquaintance. Or it may be a deeper and fuller commitment. All aspects of wine and its cultur, from its history to its growing and making, from its storage to its presentation, and above all, its tasting and appreciation, may become areas of exploration and delight in their own right. The pleasure of wine may thus be developed with knowledge and experience into something more complex, rewarding and enduring, a lifetime’s pursuit.

As with art, music and literature, wine appreciation is a matter of aesthetics, for a Wine too has properties of balance, harmony and complexity. And like art, there are no simple equations which exist for its evaluation; the way to understand it is through conscious effort.” Read the rest of this entry »

Keeping you in the loop!

The warmer weather is taking its time to arrive in the valley this year, while we are kept busy with the activities in the vineyard aimed at optimizing the conditions dealt to us thus far for harvest 2012 – at this point we are balancing out the number of shoots per vine in order to optimize the sunlight in the canopy for the ripening period which follows fruit set after flowering!

The soils are moist Read the rest of this entry »