Perfect summer weather moulds
"classic" KZN grape harvest
Nottingham Road -
Midway through their grape harvest The Stables Wine Estate is heralding
the 2010 vintage one of the best ever, thanks to ideal hot weather
conditions over KwaZulu-Natal during the first few months of the year.
"It has been absolutely classic this year!", enthused winemaker Tiny van
Niekerk. "We didn't really have a spring - we went straight from winter
into summer with some early rains, after which it has been hot and dry.
This has been perfect for the ripening of the grapes, and we have had
absolutely no rot to deal with. And as a result we have not sprayed to
counter the risk of rot as we generally have to," said Van Niekerk.
"The vineyards have improved year on year and we are picking grapes that
are pretty much a dream-come-true for any winemaker," he added.
The harvest started on 19 February, when the record Chardonnay crop was
picked from the Greytown vineyard, followed a week later by another
bumper crop of Sauvignon Blanc grapes.
"This year we have managed to control the issues that resulted in a
significant loss of the Chardonnay crops in previous years, including
the passing local school kids who had taken a liking to the Chardonnay
grapes," said winemaker Tiny van Niekerk.
The Sauvignon Blanc harvest was separated into two sections, starting
with a lower lying block that will be used for the 2010 Method
Champenoise style bubbly, while the higher block was left on the vine
for longer, resulting in a top quality harvest.
"Our
Sauvignon Blanc has become our flagship wine, with some truly
distinctive characteristics alongside what one would normally expect
from a Sauvignon Blanc, including tropical and citrusy notes,
gooseberries, green pepper and even grapefruit."
The red grapes were left on the vine to benefit from the hot weather and
develop depth, body and complexity, with the big harvest of Pinotage
reaching the cellars before the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon and
Cabernet Franc grapes.
"The weather and the way our viticulturalist Daniel Maerkl and his
assistant Walter Gwala looked after the Greytown vineyard has left us
with fantastic red grapes this year, and we can look forward to really
big reds from 2010. Those that will recall our epic 2006 Pinotage can
look forward to more of the same, and maybe even better," said Van
Niekerk.
"Our Pinotage harvest has been our biggest ever, small grapes which
provided plenty of colour extraction and intense fruit characteristics,"
van Niekerk added.
Van Niekerk is also enthusiastic about a big Cabernet Sauvignon harvest
which will allow him to make a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon for the first
time. "The Cab grapes ripened really early, which is unusual, so we
harvested them sooner than we were going to to avoid any losses to
birds."
"We have left our Cabernet Franc grapes to hang as they are ripening
later than the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes this summer, but again quality
and quantity are looking substantial," said van Niekerk.
He also confirmed that part of the Pinotage harvest will be used to
produce a Pinotage Clariet reminiscent of the popular rose style wine
that made history by becoming the first KZN wine to receive SAWIS
certification. "People loved it, and they have been bugging me to make
another vintage of the Clariet. We pulled off the free-run after six
hours, which had great colour and flavour."
"The Merlot harvest is smaller than last year's record crop, which we
were expecting as this often happens after a massive production from
those vines tends to be stressed and produce a smaller crop the
following year. We will be leaving most of our Shiraz harvest to last to
develop sugars as we plan to use it for our Jeripico."
"The Cabernet and Cab Franc grapes are stunning, and we can really look
forward to a 2010 vintage of substantial, full bodied red wines," he
added.
"This year we are going back to basics, and doing the right things at
the right time. With the KZN summer weather really playing ball this
year, we can look forward to the 2010 vintage of KZN wines being
something special," said Van Niekerk.
