April 2003
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Fingers crossed
The first task after harvest was to attend to the vines which need a lot of loving if they are to build up reserves and increase root development for their growing period early next spring. The first weeks of growth in the spring are entirely from reserves because there is insufficient leaf cover for photosynthesis. We had already done post harvest irrigation, now the plants needed some compost. We chose Neutrog http://www.neutrog.com.au/index/home because it is organic and has been very successful in Australia where it was developed. It is now made in Cape Town and is used by many vineyards, even non organic ones. It is essentially composted chicken manure and its composition is as follows: Moisture 130 g/kg, Nitrogen 30 g/kg, Phosphorous 15 g/kg, Potassium g/kg, Calcium 22 g/kg, Sulphur 3.7 g/kg, Magnesium 4.5 g/kg, Zinc 235 mg/kg, Manganese 370 mg/kg, Copper 30 mg/kg. It provides water insoluble nitrogen that is released slowly over a long period of time. It supplies a full balance of nutrients that will not leach rapidly which are immediately available following application. It increases microbial activity in the soil and helps the soil retain moisture by building up the humus content, improving tolerance against drought and disease. It also increases earthworm activity and is free from weeds, parasites and pathogens. The raw manure is aerobically composted in heaps by adding water to the dry manure and turning it for about 10 weeks at around 60 degrees C to kill pathogens, until it is brown and smells like silage. It is then pelletized and dried at up to 100 degrees C to a 13% moisture content which kills of any remaining pathogens and drives off ammonia. We applied it after harvest at a rate of 500 kg/ha to promote root development during winter and build up reserves. We shall also apply a further 500 – 700 kg/ha two weeks prior to bud burst to provide nutrients through the growing season. The other essential was to get the cover crops sown. We decided to go for oats as they are early growing and vigorous. The oats would hopefully out compete the weeds and we decided to sow even in the rows among the vines to try to stop weeds growing close to the vines. We spent too much time de-weeding last year and hopefully this would cut down on that and provide mulch when it was cut. In the cellar time was taken up by pressing the remaining bins and by the end of the first week of April all of them were done except the Mourvedre which had now been on the skins for 4 weeks. J-C was happy with everything, but especially the Syrah which was showing no rough edges even at this early stage. 2003 had been a great vintage all over the Cape. There were no destructive plagues of fungus as last year and no major bush fires. The weather had been kind, dry and warm during harvest. There was in fact an abundance of quality grapes. J-C had, like an inquisitive ferret, been catching up on the supply situation by chatting to his mates at other more established cellars. It seemed that some of the big names had an over supply situation on their hands. Last year had been a near disaster for some cellars and so, not wanting to get caught out again, they had ordered more grapes from independent growers than they needed, in the expectation that quality would be hard to get. Was this an opportunity for us? We had a talented young winegrower itching to practice his craft. We had all the equipment standing idle after our own grapes had yielded their juice. We had the offer, on extremely good terms, of some top quality grapes from far and near that could not be used for lack of space by some of the big names. Should we take advantage? We decided that there was nothing to be lost. We decided to have two labels. We would only use our own organically grown grapes in one label, and if we made some quality wine with the grapes that came in we would have another label. If we didn't make great wine with the incoming grapes we could sell it to a negotiant, unlabelled. By not registering ourselves as an "Estate" we had the flexibility to bring in grapes from other farms. We were however extremely cautious. The only reason we could do this was because we had some great quality grapes on offer to us at an incremental cost. The only thing we were really sacrificing were a few barrels that we had over ordered. Only a third of the total was to be from incoming grapes. This was to ensure that the experiment was just that, an experiment not the driving force. The other reason was to build up good relationships with other growers. There are some excellent sites being managed by forward looking ambitious growers who do not have their own cellars. We did not assume that our own 16 hectares was the best site in the whole Cape, just one of the best. To build a relationship with these guys would ensure that we kept in touch with what was happening in areas outside the Tulbagh valley. The other great advantage was that we had our own staff, our own lorry, our own crates and our cool room. We would do our own picking and could be very choosy on which grapes to harvest. We could handle them carefully to ensure they were undamaged and we could cool them down on arrival at our cellar to ensure that fermentation started slowly and under our control. Also it would be great practice for J-C and give us a useful comparison later on.
After much deliberation J-C settled on some Cinsault and some Cabernet from one grower and some Merlot from another. If it came out well we could have a very interesting second label. J-C and the team got to work and by the end of the month all the incoming Cab and Merlot had finished fermentation and the bins were closed up for extended maceration. J-C took samples of our own wine in to be analyzed and it looked healthy. The va's (volatile acidity - vinegary component) were all around the 0.4g/l level. This was really good news and we were much relieved, as high va's were the only concern with the natural ferments. When yeasts stress, they tend to produce higher va's. Although some of our alcohols were a bit high, the temperatures were well controlled, so the yeast were happy. A level of up to 1,2g/l is legal in South Africa, so we were well under that limit. Malolactic fermentation of our own wine was about half way done by the end of the month. Our initial malic acid concentrations were just over 2g/l, and are now at about 0.9g/l. When they get to under 0.1g/l malolactic fermentation is considered finished. Just for the sake of palate education, and on behalf of TMV, Tom G-W and the lovely Mrs. G-W attended the World Gourmet Summit where the main event on one evening was dinner in a very up-market restaurant featuring the wines of Michel Chapoutier. This turned out to be an unbeatable experience for anyone who is a fan of his. The wine list was outstanding and the food a perfect complement to it. Here is the list with Tom's comments, just make our readers jealous: From St Joseph the 1998 Les Granites (white). This wine is from an 80 year old 2 ha vineyard made from 100% Marsanne in minute quantities. It is a Chapoutier "luxury cuvee" and is an outstanding wine, the mineral and fruit flavours are perfectly in balance with a good acid structure. The elegant white wine of the gods. From Hermitage the 1994 Ermitage Le Pavillon (red). 100% Syrah. The ultimate expression of this variety. Although hugely concentrated it has many layers of flavour that slowly reveal themselves as it is consumed. From sweet fruit to rich mature tannins and with an intoxicating nose it finishes with an earthy organic flavour that lingers for ages. It is truly alive. From Hermitage the 1994 Ermitage Cuvee de l'Oree. 100% Marsanne. Makes the Granites look like a wall flower. This is an incredibly powerful white wine with massive fruit and mineral content. You are transported through the whole gamut of flavours from acid to flowers like an elevator going up a skyscraper. Parker gave this a 99 which was not a hard decision. From Cote Rotie the 1994 La Mordoree (red). 100% Syrah. From vineyards that are between 70 and 80 years old and are totally biodynamic. The elevation is 100% new oak with no fining or filtration. The grapes are 100% destemmed (unlike the practice of many other northern Rhone producers). This gives a fat earthy smoky feel to the wine with no greenness. The nose is sweet and flowery and intensely aromatic. From Chateauneuf de Pape the 1994 Barbe Rac (red). 100% Grenache. This is produced again in minute quantities of only 700 cases per year and feels like it has all the flavours of 7000 cases squeezed into one glass. It is perhaps over the top in this regard, produced really as an experiment in reaction to all the watery insipid Grenache based vin-ordinaire. There is only so far you can go down the concentration path without producing something that is difficult to drink more than one glass of. However it is a trophy wine par-excellence. The food was produced by Roland Johri from the St-Moritz restaurant Johri's Tavlo. It was just as well J-C could not unfortunately attend or he may have been tempted to throw in the towel while he can still get a job as an accountant! Copyright © 2000 Tulbagh Solutions. All rights reserved. |
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