It seemed like I had only just fallen asleep when the alarm buzzed me awake at 3.00 am. 
For a split second I hated Sauvignon Blanc! Why does its fragile chemical make-up have to differ so much from other varieties? Why does it have to be so sensitive to warm harvesting conditions? Then the excitement of the early morning harvest shook me wide awake and I drove up the hill to meet Ted at block M1.
The sky is clear and the stars bright as the harvester fans rev and the shakers start removing the berries from the tightly packed bunches. I find myself humming the lyrics to Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’ … ‘Look at the stars, look how they shine for you’…
By the time I get back to the cellar, Sjaak and Tim have arrived and are already halfway through pressing the last load of yesterday’s Sauvignon Blanc. Flavour-wise we had decided to leave this press overnight to give the Sauvignon Blanc some extra skin contact. The pH reading had been just on pH 3.0, low enough to allow for some extra time on the skins. This has the effect of extracting more flavour, but usually pushes up the pH slightly,
obviously not a problem in this case. With the new must chiller working so well, any oxidation reactions are slowed dramatically as the temperature of the mash is only about 8 degrees Celsius!
The whole picking team turned up for work today and by lunch, had finished hand-harvesting Block 28 Sauvignon Blanc. It was still cool enough for them to carry on picking the rest of Block 11 or Windhoek – “Windy Corner” as the farm staff call it. Ted had finished M1 just after 11.00am, having harvested 27 tonnes and rather than start another vineyard which wasn’t quite ready, we decided to rather clean and service the machine harvester, a two hour process. Thorough daily cleaning of all winery and harvesting equipment is necessary if one wants to avoid spoilage yeasts such as Brettanomyces, as once this yeast takes hold of your cellar it can be near impossible to eliminate.
Having started so early in the morning, everyone in the cellar was able to go home by 22h30. No-one could hide their smiles – it was as if they were on holiday!
For a split second I hated Sauvignon Blanc! Why does its fragile chemical make-up have to differ so much from other varieties? Why does it have to be so sensitive to warm harvesting conditions? Then the excitement of the early morning harvest shook me wide awake and I drove up the hill to meet Ted at block M1.
The sky is clear and the stars bright as the harvester fans rev and the shakers start removing the berries from the tightly packed bunches. I find myself humming the lyrics to Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’ … ‘Look at the stars, look how they shine for you’…
By the time I get back to the cellar, Sjaak and Tim have arrived and are already halfway through pressing the last load of yesterday’s Sauvignon Blanc. Flavour-wise we had decided to leave this press overnight to give the Sauvignon Blanc some extra skin contact. The pH reading had been just on pH 3.0, low enough to allow for some extra time on the skins. This has the effect of extracting more flavour, but usually pushes up the pH slightly,
obviously not a problem in this case. With the new must chiller working so well, any oxidation reactions are slowed dramatically as the temperature of the mash is only about 8 degrees Celsius!The whole picking team turned up for work today and by lunch, had finished hand-harvesting Block 28 Sauvignon Blanc. It was still cool enough for them to carry on picking the rest of Block 11 or Windhoek – “Windy Corner” as the farm staff call it. Ted had finished M1 just after 11.00am, having harvested 27 tonnes and rather than start another vineyard which wasn’t quite ready, we decided to rather clean and service the machine harvester, a two hour process. Thorough daily cleaning of all winery and harvesting equipment is necessary if one wants to avoid spoilage yeasts such as Brettanomyces, as once this yeast takes hold of your cellar it can be near impossible to eliminate.
Having started so early in the morning, everyone in the cellar was able to go home by 22h30. No-one could hide their smiles – it was as if they were on holiday!
1 comment:
Lekker harvest; we'll patiently wait for the wines. Neleen
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