Archive for the ‘Our harvest news 2011!’ Category

Kaaimansgat has become the name that people associate with our Chardonnay, for which the grapes are sourced from the Elandskloof Valley, from a farm called Kaaimansgat, which translates to Crocodile’s Lair (from Afrikaans, one of our national languages).

For many years now, this vineyard has given us supreme quality grapes with very small concentrated fruit and an overall low pH, leading to wines with a lengthy finish, lively acidity and an unforgettable aroma…   So much so, that Peter Finlayson and our new junior winemaker, Chris Albrecht, are so enthusiastic about the fruit quality, that the rest of the cellar team becomes cautious.

A little estranged by the harmonious quiet arriving along with the first load of grapes.. Only once Peter has inspected three or more crates and his eyes become glossy, he lifts his cheeks ever so slightly and the signal is given to proceed, we know that it is yet another great year for quality from Kaaimansgat!

The secret? Read the rest of this entry »

Pinnacle Pinot from the point of Africa!

Our recent 92 points for the Galpin Peak Pinot noir 2009, has inspired us to once again move forward at a pace with a sharpened focus on the continuous improval of the wines, starting in the vineyards!

Not only is our Pinot the kind of wine that can be enjoyed at any time of the day, as mentioned in the previous blog, but it is according to one of our clients in Germany one of those rare wines that can be enjoyed anywhere in the world!

The comment was based on the fact that on numerous occasion he had discussed with his clients, that often wines lose their character when they are tasted in another country, in a different season or at a different time of the day.  The statement made, was that our Pinot noir was so certain in its structure and aromatic composure, that this wine tasted just as good in the middle of a snowstorm a few months after having tasted it in sunny South Africa!

Pinot noir grapes

Well, how could we object this – a truly great wine can only compete with itself… and with the 2011 vintage looking good we hope to once again stir emotions and the senses when this bottling is ready to be probed!

“If you appreciate opera you will appreciate the analogy to Pinot Noir. Like opera, it takes intense preparation to put on a performance. Like opera, so much depends on who and what you have to work with. And, like opera, if the result is indifferent the audience will walk away. But if you get it right, if you achieve that high, perfect note that turns your skin to gooseflesh, everyone stands up and applauds.”

(Peter Finlayson)

Prowein Trade Fair Show

This Trade Fair ran for a period of three days.  Day number one seemed to bring the most eager clients, an assemblage of new faces and familiar faces.

Our Agents Stand at Prowein

Day two was equally exciting and then on the third day the fair took on a more casual feel with the less serious audience out and about exploring the world of wine – and it really was that! A meeting point for some of the best producers and some of the most important customers!

The size of the fair was intimidating of course and especially for me as it was my first visit to such an international wine trade fair;  And I certainly landed right at the Düsseldorf Prowein Show – one of the largest Wine Trade Fairs in the world! Read the rest of this entry »

What is on the agenda, now that almost all the grapes are in the cellar? …Besides still receiving some Kaaimansgat grapes from Villiersdorp for our Crocodile’s Lair Chardonnay 2011  – we are seeing off our harvest help Mackenzie from Canada on Tuesday evening with an internally arranged Pinot noir tasting, which will include some of the other interns from the valley and to round off  and thank the harvest team after all the hard work – Peter has arranged a barbecue at the picturesque location of the farm for us.

Peter

Mackenzie

Chris

Jessica

Today was a public holiday in South Africa (Human Rights Day) in the tasting room and as it was slightly less busy on this day in the cellar (we did not receive grapes, but the usual sugar analysis, pump overs etc. had to be done), we opened the tasting room – Peter and I were able to receive the visitors who had come from far to taste our wines.

We had many “So glad to find you open today!” and “We came especially to taste your wines, so happy you are open!” Read the rest of this entry »

Harvest hovers and hopes are high!

At this point in the cellar we are working the barrels (washing, aligning, stacking)  – ready to be filled with the devilishly dark and divine Pinot noir. The ferments have gone smoothly and in the next week or so most of the Pinot will have been taken to barrel.

It is an extremely exciting time, because the wines are starting to take shape and the Pinot noir aromas are displaying promising notes of blackcurrants, mulberry and cherries. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week started with Sauvignon blanc – as the harvest team cut fast through our block 12 (11000 vines), we busied ourselves with the Sauvignon, which came in on Saturday last week (19.02.2011). It was left to cold macerate – meaning it had skin contact time for about 24 hours – in order to increase the natural grape aroma and first thing the next morning it was taken out of the tank and pumped into the press:

Whilst waiting for the juice to drain from the horizontal tank, the aroma of granny smith apples, green beans and green fig permeated the air around the tank and made the job of the person shoveling the grape skins into the bin (which pumps the must into the press from the inside of the tank) a most pleasant task.

The bin which stands outside the tank, is connected to the press with a thick pipe, which makes for a humorous spectacle when we need to connect this pipe to the press – enough to make us all break out into a bursts of giggles each time we try to maneuver this pipe to fit it tightly onto the press intake.

One could perhaps imagine it best when thinking back to the movie “Anaconda” – battling with this heavy grey species of snake, where every step feels like a thousand and during the battle one must try to avoid the tail end from squashing one against the cellar walls.

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Bouchard’s blue cranes

One morning last week, when the sun was out at around eleven am, Mackenzie and I drove into the vineyard to obtain a sample of the two Sauvignon blanc blocks to establish the point of harvest and it was then, just as we came around the bend next to our big round dam, that we stumbled upon the blue crane family, which just happened to be basking in the sun.

These majestic creatures bowed their heads – at first unsettled by our presence – and then proceeded to slowly cross the road performing all kinds of feathery delights to leave us humbled by their awe and wonder.

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Harvest begins with Pinot noir!

The days preceeding this BIG DAY involved cleaning stainless steel tanks with high-pressure guns, washing barrels and getting the tools ready, which are needed to perfect our Pinot noir.

The barrels have been re-stacked on our cellars rustic earth floor; This keeps the relative humidity high enough so that there is no need for its adjustment.

As we begin this first day of harvest, swallows collect on the telephone cables outside the winery – at first it seems as though they have gathered there to be spectators of the action below

- with berries flying sideways out of yellow lug boxes and girls (harvest assistants from South Africa and Canada) getting icky about the grapes that are increasingly sticky.

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Vintage 2011 has commenced ( 7th Feb 2011)

Timing has been of the essence and this year with Pinot noir being the first grapes to the cellar!  My analogy for 2011 is that of sailing a racing yacht in ever changing strong winds and turbulent seas. All manner of tricky weather and opportunistic bugs have been waiting in the wings to upstage this event. Hopefully the weather will now give us a break and offer the chance to cut clean and fast through the next three weeks. At this point we are enjoying excellent prospects and now running with our spinnaker at full sail. Lets hope it stays that way!

Lights, Camera, Action!

And herewith we draw the curtains – strong, bronzed men scramble to lay the red carpet for our Pinot, which is about to enter the stage and models pose for publicity amongst the bearing vines  –  berries round and ripe, ready for the following delight?

As we embark on the journey through the harvest at Bouchard Finlayson 2011, we invite and entice you to be part of our  “diwine” affairs, here in the Hemel en Aarde Valley (Heaven and Earth Valley) in the wine region Walker Bay.

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