More new stuff

It is not quite justifiable for a small cellar like mine to invest in new hardware like a forklift. But this one was more than overdue as the old Toyota wasn't pulling its weight anymore (literally as the small hill in front of the winery became more and more a challenge. But decision making reason was the fact that I could not drive the Toyota myself due to my stiff leg. The new Linde 1,6 ton has an incredible long mast of over 5 meters high and is much smaller and more versatile than the heavy 2,5 ton Toyota and the best of it I can drive it myself. I will be very careful with it as my very good friend Siggi from Germany battled for years with a severe injury caused by a runaway forklift which drove over his ankle. I promise to have safety the first consideration. With the new edition to the cellar I hope productivity and efficiency will increase.

On a private note: I can't wait to hit the road to Africa again. I haven't had a safari for a long time and just learning that my neighbour is going a month long northwards by motorcycle had me green with envy. Motivated by this I am going to get the Landi ready for safari as soon as possible.

Paperwork

Finally Marc and I signed a production partnership agreement for the next three harvests effectively opening a strong representation in Holland for Oude Wellington wines. Mark will co-produce Oude Wellington's wines and market them in Holland. Meanwhile we concentrate on the South African market. Hopefully this will allow us to grow with a secure marketing strategy in Europe in both exclusivity and related quality. The signing followed a many months long negotiation over two continents and many changes and ideas and sureties needed to be addressed, But finally it was sealed and signed and we are all happy with the prospect of the future partnership.

Filter arived

Here it is the new bulk filter imported from Germany. Sydney was delighted and immediately "hugged" the new addition to the cellar as it was the one equipment he most wanted to have in the cellar. Well, what does it do? It filters that's the plain answer, but there are many ways to filter wine with candle-,sheet-,bulk-, cross flow- etc.-filters, with each of them having a specific use and benefit and downsides. We are all looking forward seeing the new "toy" working as it has an awful lot of of leavers and buttons to operate. I had ordered the machine over the Internet from a dealer in Germany and to our hope and surprise the machine arrived in most excellent condition almost new. We all were holding our breath when the machine arrived if it was what was promised as there is hardly a money back guarantee over two continents and the hefty shipping and import duty.

Stickers - Labels and sticky fingers

Today is labelling day - my favourite task -- just kidding. It is quite a procedure since I don't have a bottle washer. These machines are quite expensive and use plenty of water, I was told. Despite the fact that I don't have the space for something large it is one of those items that hardly ever comes on the market second-hand. So we do it the good old manual way by washing the bottles by hand, dipping them in hot water and letting them dry off before feeding the labeling machine. In the past we had a front label and the certification sticker on the neck of the bottle, but since now the state wants us to put a health warning on each bottle we are running out of label space and had to introduce back labels. This also allows for a bar code and a bit of writing about the wine itself. Some tasting notes and the web address also fit.
Now this is when the fun starts. Once the front label is stuck to the bottle the back label is supposed to be the same height, same angle and needs to be placed in the middle of the remaining back space. Well, that's the theory. Visualize me watching in horror as labels shoot out by the dozens because the magic eye (that registers the next label coming) was covered with the back label backing paper (that is the transfer paper for the labels). Before I can intervene, a bottle is covered in several layers of labels and blocking other bottles from coming forward and it all becomes a major mess. Calling Juri was the sensible thing to do. Now I have the time to write my blog while he is busy setting up the #&#$%@# machine. I hope he gets it right as I am not keen to label 5310 bottles by hand.

"Bottled and Dusted"

Yesterday we bottled ~5130 un-wooded organic Chardonnay. For our small cellar this is quite a logistic and volume to manage as all is done on the farm. Murphy's law applied as the bottles from Consol (monopoly) arrived just minutes before. After sterilizing the bottling equipment with steam and hooking up the tank it was the nitrogen gas that ran out, but only right at the end so no damage done. One needs the gas to put a layer on top of the wine to prevent oxygen aging the wine prematurely. So as the bottle leaves the filler nozzle the next step is to level the bottle's volume to exactly 750ml which is done by blowing out the small excess with inert gas such as nitrogen. Every 10 bottles an identifying sticker is added and then laid horizontal into big wooden crates to rest. The wine undergoes the so called bottle shock which takes about 2 weeks to subside. Wines are actually permanent in a stage of transition but the one after bottling is quite a noticeable change of taste before and after.
Our neighbouring farmer Andris was so kind to support us with three extra labourers to help operating the entire process.

Sydney was cursing the forklift and bottling machine in tandem as my good old forklift hardly made it up the hill into the winery without a good manual push and the bottling machine loves to strike every now and then with half filled bottles (the machine takes the new health warnings way to literate)but after all the day was a success and we celebrated the first new wine of the season in bottle with ... you guessed it: a bottle of Oude Wellington Chardonnay.
The picture today shows the new label and health warnings which are now compulsory on all wines.Click on the next text for a large picture of the new label See%20label%20here.pdf

Things are moving on Oude Wellington

Finally the task is done. The picture shows Sydney keeping a good record of every litre of the precious liquid. We moved the old brandy bond warehouse to its new location within the winery. Two days of pumping barrels empty - then carrying them to their new location, stacking them and refilling them with the same brandy as I did not want to loose the character of each individual barrel. The colour and flavour that come from the barrel are importent characteristics of the brandy. So even if the same batch of raw brandy is put in to identical-looking barrels, the flavours will differ as no two trees are alike.

The commercial brands blend the various barrels with great experience in order to achieve the same flavour year after year, whereas we make vintage brandy and select the best-tasting barrels, add demineralized water (absolutely pure water) to reduce the brandy (which is usually about 69-72% alcohol in the barrel) to 40% alcohol and, after cold stabilization and filtration, we bottle it. We categorically do not use any other additive like colour (caramel) or flavour enhancers of any kind.

The old brandy warehouse will become the new wine storage as it is better accessible for the forklift. But before that can happen we have to put in the new door, which is even heavier then the last one.

Wine Range

At the beginning of the season decisions have to be made what style of wines we want to make and what volumes will be right for our marketing style and abilities. So with some deliberation and a few glasses of inspirational wine, we decided to make 9 different wines ranging from a blended Cabernet/Shiraz and Cabernet/Ruby Cabernet to organic Cabernet, organic Chardonnay, both wooded and unwooded, to Blanc de Noir and Cap Classic. Even a natural sweet wine as dessert wine is in the making.

Three weeks ago Country Living magazine came to the farm for some photos and kindly sent us copies which is why my picture is on today's blog.

On a private note: My little daughter Ines (she claims to be about 1/2 head taller then me) since landing a great job as a journalist in Jo'burg is editing my blog, wiping out my German grammar and spelling blunders. Try spell check and the most hilarious word creations appear. I just want to thank you, Ines!

On the guest house side we feel the slowing down of the season with less advance-bookings and bigger gaps in the booking sheets. But I am not complaining. This season was among the best I ever had and many returning guest confirmed it by choosing us again.

Heatwave continues ;-)

It's all for a good cause. This was a photo shoot in our brandy cellar and in the vineyards for a breast cancer awareness campaign. Lunch and dinner is still served fully dressed despite the heat wave :-)

Today we pressed our last red grapes, which are cabernet sauvignon. "All done and dusted" Sydney said, which is his favourite expression.

I learned something today. When setting in the new wine store door I couldn't close the doors completely. After hours trying to set them right it suddenly occured to me they weren't the wrong way round but simply a mirror copy of the ones I had given to a local company to manufacture some years ago. Albi Bum the genius mechanic and Landrover whizz kid quickly cut and rewelded them and now the doors are closed. What a relief after hours in Wellington's sun!

Burning issues whilst racking the wine

The cellar is busy with racking today. Racking is taking the wine from its solids, such as particles of fruit flesh, skins, yeast cells etc. Everything that has sunk to the bottom of the tank to put it simply. Most tanks have a racking valve some distance from the bottom for that purpose. You can see a pipe attached to such a valve on the right tank on the picture. Fermentation has been completed in most of the tanks so the wine is now very vulnerable to bacterial infection or oxidation until malolactic fermentation has set in. It is also sometimes called "secondary fermentation". This is not entirely correct, because it is a process where tart tasting malic acid, which is naturally present in grapes, and the resulting must is converted into a much softer tasting lactic acid. Sometimes this happens spontaneously but most of the time it needs some encouragement by adding malolactic cultures to the wine. Now is the time to keep all the tanks full to the very top so no oxygen ages the wine prematurely or in the worst case scenario spoils it altogether.

The fire seen on the picture above is in Paarl and just about to reach main road and some houses are in immediate danger of burning down. The helicopters fly long hours until sunset and during the night the skyline is red and thick smoke rises high into the sky. We all feel for the people who live in the danger zone and that are now asking themselves if they had paid their fire insurances and if their belongings and properties will be spared. We ourselves have had been in a very similar position only two years ago. Reminds me to call my insurance broker a.s.a.p. As the saying goes: you cannot insure a burning house.

The guesthouse has been reappointed by Portfolio of Places and the Greenwood Guide as well as being awarded a four star status once more. Our cleaning staff Dina, Ragel and Sissy have been mentioned as being very thorough and on top of the task. I guess a plain "thank you" has to be followed by some cash as well, but they deserve it/ Well done ladies! I installed a new chlorinator for the swimming pool and ever since it has turned into "deep blue". The nice thing about this little gadget is that it is self-cleaning ;)

The restaurant is as popular as ever and has rewritten its entire menu which you can see here: http://www.kapwein.com/food.htm.

The Wellington Harvest Festival is on this month on 21 and 22 March. We won't do much ourselves this year, because we are virtually sold out and the new wines aren't bottled yet. So no jumping castle, but wine and brandy tasting and good food at the restaurant is the order of the day. We'll keep you posted.

"Pressing Issues"

Pressing the Cabernet Sauvignon gently is the task today. The handling of the good old basket press with manual hydraulic is surprisingly quick. It's on one-bar pressure and we're constantly tasting to make sure no skin tannins enter the precious juice.

Our new Dutch distributor Marc came to discuss our future mutual engagement and marketing approach. We agreed that all our wines should be present in the Netherlands and he has already organised a marketing campaign.

The observant reader will have noticed that I already declared the harvest over, but Sydney has left a few half-rows of Chardonnay hanging to add complexity to the already fermented wines. He's also trying his hand on a natural sweet dessert wine, which should yield interesting results with the renowned hot weather in Wellington.

Surprisingly, it was more than a ton and the sugar was on 30 balling without raisin character. Sydney would have liked it more towards 34, but is pleased nonetheless with the fruit and character.

So all together the harvest went well both in quantity as well as in quality.

Sadly, one of our ostrich ladies had her foot caught in a wire at the gate and injured her leg badly. Dr.van Rooyen was here and we hope his treatment will be successful. TLC is also being given to a bird that had fallen from a tree for no apparent reason. We're hoping it will recover and keeping it warm in the meantime, which isn't difficult in Wellington's summer. ;)

The video shows Marc searching for the %$#&^%$* harvesting shears. It is the first time I've uploaded a video clip, so please be patient with me.

More surprises

I have to add to the previous post. When claiming the harvest to be lighter, I hadn't included the surprising volume of the Ruby Cabernet block that produced 11 tonnes (still low yielding at 5,5 tonne/ht) of best-quality grapes.

The cellar space was getting cramped with open fermentation happening in all available kuipers (open vessels or tanks to ferment open). Sydney became all excited to detect a wild yeast self-ignited fermentation in one of the kuipers (normally one would start the fermentation with cultivated yeasts for predictable results). The smells and colour extraction (the red colour originates from the grape skins) are very promising so the decision was made instantly to let the fermentation go on its own and see where it leads to.

The harvest has been a success and the hick-ups within the "normal scale". Punctually after the last grapes came in the weather changed and mother nature provides us with a free after-harvest irrigation of the vineyards. The vines are stressed after the harvest and need nutrition and water immediately. I'll keep you posted about our wild yeast wine.

More good news came from Macintosh computers who agreed to repair my computer under extended warranty.

Are you wondering what the peacock is all about? Well, he is the culprit ransacking the garden and attacking all the flowers and has lately found a liking to grapes.

Last day of harvest

What a week this has been! Our contractor couldn't make it this week to help us harvest the Cabernet and Ruby Cabernet. But the grapes were ripe, the sugars (one way to detect ripeness) perfect and the acidity in its prime. Cue the frenzied telephone calls to find a harvesting team at short notice. After dozens of calls and recommendations within the industry we finally managed to get a team. At cut-throat prices at that. But on the other hand, this is also their best time to make some money and us farmers with small permanent labour forces have to pay the price one way or the other. Mechanical harvesting is not the answer at the tonnage we produce.

On a positive note, I must say the harvest went smoothly and professionally. Today is our last day of harvest. We bring in the Ruby Cabernet and only leave a few rows of Chardonnay for a special late harvest wine. To all our surprise we learned that the organic Cabernet vineyard yielded better then the traditional block. The grapes were all together healthier and richer in flavours and it promises to be a good wine. Sydney, the new winemaker, whizzes between cellar and vineyards; up and down.

My truck had a breakdown, so the good old Massey Ferguson tractor (it is ripe for the museum by now) did the job with Hendric the old farmhand at the helm. Trying to stay sober after 10:00 is a real challenge for him these days. He really tries, but the temptation is difficult to manage.

While the cellar was busy, the guesthouse was fully booked and that of course is the moment my new Mac computer had to give in. Motherboard failure, said the technician (the second time in under a year... I'm starting to like my >&^#@#$ Windows again!).

The post-harvest watering of the vineyards proved to be another challenge as the main water pipeline decided to spontaneously jump out of the ground and create a nice water feature in the middle of the vineyard. On Wednesday we had 100-odd students from the local Wellington college for an informal gettogether at our dam and I must say they behaved extraordinarily civilized. I was wilder in my days. ;)

This year's harvest has been lighter than last year's. We're almost 20% down in volume, but we make up for it in good health and strong flavours.

As you can see on the photos we have repaired the forklift damage and built in the new distillery door.

Shiraz

At 6:00am the harvest started for the first red - the Shiraz. All night long gale force winds were blowing around the house and all senses are alert to veld fires. The picking temperatures were moderately cooler than in any of the past years.

The many power failures over the past three days had finally laid waste to my beautiful Mac computer. A trip to Cape Town later and the answer was that they won't even look at the problem before next week, never mind ordering parts. Without Skype I miss seeing my grandchild in Germany and friends around the world, since my PC does not have camera or microphone.

Follow your nose

The temperature control for the wine has been a challenge this year. Sudden dips in electricity supply from Eskom knocked out the machine several times. Day-long power cuts don't help either. I'm thinking of an appropriate name for the temperature-challenged wine this year.

Finally the heat has arrived and the grapes are ripening fast and even the reds will be ready for harvesting the coming week. Over the past few days I finally built in the new cellar door, which Wollies had made beautifully. Before I started this blog we had a "little" accident, where the forklift freewheeled into the distillery and smashed the door, severely damaging the building in the process. I commissioned a new arched door and we built it in ourselves.

The guesthouse is a real pleasure at the moment. Many guests who have stayed with us before are returning.

We have a new addition to the alpaca herd. Her name is Snowball and she is 4 weeks old. Just like all alpacas she is a gentle humming bundle of wool and big eyes with incredibly long eyelashes and she loves to cuddle with me.

Chardonnay bubbling along

It's the weekend and the tanks are bubbling away with wonderful smells coming out of the cellar.

Major cleanup work is ahead of us. The outside of the cellar has seen better days and some paint would work wonders. The weather has finally reached more normal temperatures. It was unusually cool the past few days.

The guesthouse is having an intermediate quiet phase, but more overseas visitors are due to arrive and we ought to be busy again once the harvest is in full swing. Everything happens all at once, but one gets used to it. We have now finished the painting of the stoops and it looks brand-new again.

Enough writing. The swimming pool is calling!

Chardonnay is in the cellar

The new tanks came in handy - their size is exactly what we needed. We left a third of the grapes for a potential late harvest in the vineyard and will decide later if we'll make a sweet dessert wine as well. I still like the idea of having a large variety of wines on offer rather than large volumes of one style of wine.

The quality has been outstanding and it was a pleasure to see how healthy the grapes are after so many doom and gloom opinions about organic vineyards.

Promising talks with our Dutch friends will hopefully result in a close cooperation that will ultimately cut out any middlemen and get our wines to the Netherlands and northern Europe at competitive prices.

Meanwhile, we're painting all our buildings in pristine white and stoops in traditional red. Since we moved our ostriches to the front camp we are miraculously finding eggs. ;) We never had any before while out of sight on the mountain slopes of the farm.

On a private note: My little (she is taller than me) girl has her first job as a journalist secured in Johannesburg and moves into her first flat this weekend. A very exciting moment in a young person's life. Good luck, Ines!