The One about the Harvest

The saying ‘Every cloud has a silver lining is spot-on when I think of Harvest 2021.

Of course, I can tell you about the numerous farmers who cut their crops as their tanks are still full and sit with an overstock of wine. Brave ones bold enough to know what’s best.

But the silver lining for me this year is to see the support for #SupportSAWine, especially on an international level, which allowed me to get my hands dirty with grape juice once again.

As always, the grapes from Vermaaklikheid ripens later. Very positively, we find that this happens at a lower balling (fancy word for tracking sugar content in grapes), which results in lower alcohol. The Old Vine Chenin block in Paarl received a lot of care this last year, and the results are astonishing to see. The humus content in the soil has drastically improved and is now nutrient-rich, which shows in the vigorous leaf growth—beautiful acidity and intensity of fruit in the wines.

I want to encourage you to support local wine producers and especially the smaller producers.