Harvest

It took another day to harvest the lot, not because it was so much but so little and the grapes far apart and in small bunches. To give you an indication how much damage we had in the Chardonnay vineyard: last year we harvested 8,9 tons of grapes from 1,8 ht organic Chardonnay - this year we brought in 3,3 tons which is a loss of 62% against a normal year. After all the cost and care and man-hours this was quite disappointing. We estimated a loss of 40% and thought this to be bad enough. But let us be hopeful and positive the rest of the harvest is still to come. The picture shows the badly effected vine with virtually no grapes hanging.

HARVEST HAS STARTED

Today we brought in our organic Chardonnay for Cape classic (champagner), which has to come in rather neutral and early. The team of Grove Jordaan, who did last years harvest as well came thankfully in on short notice and cleaned the block in one day. It was a difficult harvest as our Chardonnay block had been hard hit by downy mildew. It wasn't a good year for organic farming, at least here on Oude Wellington. It is a pity because at the beginning of the season the block was promising a very good harvest. The picture shows Grove (left) and Sydney.
But we also have good news. The new Currant Abbey is in the bottle and after approval and labelling will be available again.

Currant Abbey

After fixing several old "sins" (you know those urgent "fix it for now" jobbies) at the main water pipeline to the vineyards our "handyman" Mervin fixed it good and solid. So that we can eventually come to the main task of the day which is to bottle the first batch of Currant Abbey our Ruby Cabernet based easy drinking red-wine which has become so popular, that there is a waiting list for it. The picture shows Sydney checking glass and logistic in the cellar.

The endless water story

Today on Oude Wellington the 4star Guest house status was once more confirmed by the grading council of South Africa. The weather has turned to hot and the grass all around us is dry. Every time we hear a helicopter we are worried a bush fire might be on its way. Meanwhile we had a tragic death of one of our pregnant Alpaca females. Suddenly and without previous symptoms Snowy collapsed and died within half an hour. The vet diagnosed an acute lung infection turned fatal. She was one of the most forth comming animals as we had hand raised her when she was a young kria.
The vines are thirsty and water stressed and at this very moment when we need the water most urgently the main water pipe had to burst. So we spend the day digging out the damaged pipe and repair it.
Harvest is just around the corner now and we are getting the cellar ready, the yeasts ordered and the mind set for this time of the year again when all the efforts of the year are coming together again.