January 2001
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Plans, plans, plans... Andrew Theubes's report arrived. It told us a few new things and confirmed a lot of what we already new. It was very reassuring that he confirmed our soils to be so suitable for top quality wine grapes. They are well drained to such a depth that the roots will not reach the water table, but yet they do hold moisture. Some of the soil is stony and poor which is ideal for the very vigourous Mourvedre and Grenache. In other areas the soil is richer and more suitable for the less vigourous Cabernet. In between we will find the Syrah has an ideal home.
We asked him about bush vine cultivation where the vines are planted very densely to inhibit vigour (5000 per hectare against 3000). This is the method used by Spice Route on the Malmsebury soils. Andrew said that in Malmesbury they got even less rainfall that Tulbagh does, and that the soil is even poorer. The bush vine method can be used there, but on our farm most of the soil is a bit richer and will retain more moisture. If we were to plant a vigourous variety like Syrah in high density without trellising it would grow in a mass profusion and be uncontrollable. We also asked whether to use irrigation. Andrew said we should have the facility even if it was used extremely sparingly, say at the end of the growing season and after harvest just to save the vines from damaging stress. We also thought that it would help save the vineyard from a bush fire which was a constant worry. So in conclusion we will go for 5 strand trellising and irrigation with low density planting. We decided to stick with Richter 99 rootstock, which although it increases vigour, grows to a greater depth and so we can reduce irrigation without fear of stressing the vines too much. Also we believe in our soils and so we want the roots to go deep and really reflect their character in the grape. Andrew was very clear on another thing. It is the balance of the vine in its environment that is the most important aspect of quality grape production. The vine will reach an optimum yield depending on the soil, the water, the sunlight and other factors such as wind. Irrigation should be given in enough quantities in the early years to ensure good root growth and then only to prevent the vine from dying or being seriously stressed. None of the other factors are influenced to any great extent by the grower. The grower prunes the vine to achieve a good canopy and he should allow it to find its natural balance. There is no point in reducing yield by simply cutting off half the crop. Apart from the amount of water a vine gets the relationship it has with its environment or "terroir" is the major factor in achieving this elusive balance. A well balanced vine will produce good grapes, and the yield will vary depending on the environment. Obviously if you over irrigate you get grapes that are full of water and this dilutes the elements that give wine its nose, colour and taste. Great wine comes from grapes that have a high concentration of colour and aromatic elements. We confirmed our order with our ever patient and flexible nursery man. 3000 Mourvedre, 7500 Cabernet Sauvignon and 19500 Syrah. There is no Grenache in South Africa - yet. We will add it to the mix when certified material is available. We are on the list to receive it. Some mother blocks are being grown under the eye of the KWV but these won't be certified for two or three years. The only other thing we could do is obtain R99 rootstock, Grenache material and graft our own. This can be done in two ways. Bench graft this winter and plant out in the "nursery" in the spring, uproot next winter and plant out in the vineyard. The advantage is that, assuming 50% of the grafts take, you only plant the ones that have "taken" in the nursery. The vineyard will be neat and all the vines will be the same age. The other method is to plant the R99 rootstock in the vineyard this winter and graft on the material in situ. The problem there is that a random 50% of the grafts will not take and you end up with a very patchy vineyard. The great advantage is that you don't have to uproot the vine and replant it. The roots have had really and extra year to grow down before they are expected to support the upward growth of the scion. We asked Andrew about doing this. His opinion was that to use non-certified material was a risk not worth taking. Leaf roll virus (which leads to poor quality and manifests itself as red curling leaves) is prevalent and we don't want to introduce any disease. We will wait. We still have to do soil test on the whole farm and we may find that some of the higher slopes where we haven't tested may be the perfect spot for this hardy vigourous variety.
We have decided on our aim and turned our aim into a plan. Now we just have to get on with it. The budget is the place to start. How much will it all cost? We sat down with Manie and we weeded out the less necessary projects. Because of the enormous cost of compost and mulch last year we asked the advice of Reliance Compost to see if we could reduce this. We thought about making our own from local vegetation (invasive trees) by buying a tree shredder and compost turner. For our size of farm the cost was prohibitive but we are thinking of starting a local centre to make compost in conjunction with other local farmers. We also want to make best use of our water resources without having to build another dam. Manie didn't want the same problems we had last winter with the servitude breaking its banks over the fields and the mad rushing torrents eroding our ditches. We allocated funds to build a concrete weir to handle the inflow to the top dam. We also allocated funds to buying a small weather station to really get a handle on what our localized climate patterns are and start building a database of records.
Manie also wants a small ATV so he can get around the ever expanding vineyard without wrecking the bakkie on the steep tracks.
All in all this year's development and upkeep is going to cost us nearly as much as to buy the farm in the first place! Well, in for a penny in for a pound as they say. The vines are coming to the end of their first growing season. We decided not to force them onto the first cordon in their first season. Most vineyards under irrigation regimes will use nitro phosphate fertilizers to push the growth in the first year up to the lower wire and then prune back the leaders. They then usually select just one leader and prune all the others back. By using fertilizer you can get a nice even growth though the blocks and it is all neat and tidy. The main reason for doing this is to have no green leaves near the ground during the spring of the following year so weed-killer can be applied without killing the vines. Of course, the organic way we are going means we won't use weed-killer in our vineyard, some vines are way ahead of others and not at all neat and tidy. We shall allow the vines to develop their roots. By next year they will all be more or less at the same stage and we can then start training them to the cordons. We did a compost tea application and ordered the lime and caphos.
Although it rained 6mm we did 10 hours of irrigation. The wild fennel we planted last year on some of the row end is in flower. We will harvest the seeds and use them on next years rows. The idea is to attract beneficial insects that compete with the nasty ones that attack our vines. The important thing is to break up the monoculture and cerate diversity - insect sinks. Soil preparation starts on the new blocks in February so it will be a busy time for all, not to mention planting 10,000 poles! Copyright © 2000 Tulbagh Solutions. All rights reserved. |
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