February 2001

February 2001
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The Herculean Task

How do you turn 10 hectares of mountain foothills into a vineyard? Read on to find out.

Having decided on the aim we needed to put these ideas into the ground. A panoramic shot was taken by Manie and the basic idea superimposed.

This was to change as we fiddled with varietals but it shows the lie of the land very well.

Then a detailed map of the layout was drawn to scale and each row, irrigation line and windbreak was marked on to it.

The theodolite man then arrived and layered out this plan onto the actual ground and marked out the blocks.

The ripper man then brought his big dozer and prepared the soil. At the same time mixing in the lime and cafos which will control acidity. The single spike on the back of the dozer rips the ground to the metre depth without turning the topsoil under.

After a week of ripping in 2 directions the 10 hectares had been prepared. The ground was soft and the PH was balanced. By ripping in February and planting in July it gives the soil time to settle down and allows the lime and cafos to leach down.

Then the poles were delivered ready for erection.

These were exciting times as the whole of the hillside changed and the enormity of the task hit home.

In our next door neighbour's vineyard the harvest was in full swing. Our guys lent a hand with the harvest. We can't wait for our first. There are only a couple of weeks growth left in the vines we planted last year before winter sets in. No more organic applications are needed. If anything the vines have grown too much in their first year, but overall we are very pleased. The growth is a bit uneven, but that is to be expected in an organic set up. The only major problem we had was the wind which stunted the growth of the vines at the eastern end of the rows. We had some very strong, hot winds coming down the mountainside for a few days this month and it burnt some of the leaves especially in the cabernet blocks.

The rows are set East/West to present as little resistance to the damaging East wind. The prevailing breeze is SSW which presents little problem but it is this Easterly which causes the problems.

The trade off for this is the lack of any mildew and disease. Out of 12500 vines planted only one single vine has not survived. This must be a record.

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