Oude Wellington Wine & Brandy Estate

Help yourself

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:26:00 +0000

Was that a planned Tree ambush of the water pipe? Did we miss a mortal battle over recourses between tree and plastic? Very neatly the tree has unsuspiciously grown a little root over the pipe and is busy strangling it until it eventually will have to give up and burst. Just in time did we detect the "plot" and rescued the patrons of the restaurant to have to resort to water buckets to flush their loos as this is the main water source for the rest rooms.
Not a very elegant lead over to the next subject but here it is:
In the bigger picture we pressed the Shiraz and Ruby Cabernet today. It is this wonderful smell of freshly pressed grapes and yeastiness that fills the winery and surroundings which always makes this time of the year so special. The heat wave is still in full swing and temperatures soar to over 42 Degrees Celsius. Standing in the pool with a cold glass of Chardonnay and an ice bucket sounds too tempting.

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:39:00 +0000

Relaxing days on Oude Wellington. The caption of the photo could read "what a night with the girls out" I caught him asleep in the middle of the evidence :o)
In more serious matters the harvest is in stages as the very hot weather had the grapes ripened very rapidly and harvesting teams were in demand, but Grové was very helpful and quickly adapted to the change in weather by coming a day earlier.
From this side of the warmer part of the globe my congratulations go out to the athlets providing this great entertainment in this winter Olympics.
The Soccer Worldcup on the other hand and specific the Match booking scheme have been very disappointing. For four month we were made believe that we are 60% booked for the time of the games only to get a short letter saying "sorry but we couldn't fill the rooms in the outer lying areas, such as the Winelands". So for all South Africans planning their holidays in the Cape in June, you are most welcome and maybe some of the expensive tickets will appear miraculously on gumtree bargain sale as well.
We were all most gracious thankful for the rain we had last night. The worry of bush fires and breaking the heat being the main objections.

Westcoast

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:15:00 +0000

The escape from the harvest and farming for a day at the Westcoast was a very good idea and turned out to be an enjoyable experience. Some very impressive launching of a kite and long walks on the beach (that is driving my Segway for me) we eventually ended up at Muisbosskerm enjoying a very oppulent meal at the famous open air restaurant. I must say the quality is still very good, the theme authentic and the variety of food enourmous. Not just a choice of fish from the braai, but several selections of meat and potjies , oven fresh bread and desert were on offer it was the sheer amount of food piled up deliciously that impresses me each time. Allthough me spent 6 hours driving to and from Lambertsbaai it was well worth it. The sunset was spectacular and we spend a moment thinking of all the cold weather in Germany while having a smile on our faces ;o)
Fuer meine Freunde Bernd und Gabi und Max und Connie in Deutschland ist der Video clip gedacht:

desaster prevented

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 09:12:00 +0000

A loose connection in the main distribution board created an almost dangerous situation. The core of the earth leakage and a neighbouring circuit breaker burnt and only by accident did we detect the fire. The day before we had the new earth cable to the vineyard cottage installed and the electrician must have had the wires crossed. Well, anyway no blame as they did come out immediatly and fixed the problem. That shows you how quickly it can happen.
On the good news side we finally found a new supplier for the brandy bottle ribbons and will hopefully get the rest of the packaging sometimes this month. So now we decided to go to the beach for the day.

Murphies Day

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:11:00 +0000

You know the rule: What can go wrong will go wrong. It was one of those days I should have stayed in bed. First the electric cable to the bore hole pump burnt out. Probably a root grown into the cable somewhere (the cable is more then a 100Meter long). So quick decision, before searching the fault I rather upgrade the cable since it was a bit weak in the first place. So price comparison showed more then a thousand Rand difference. The company promised delivery by three O'clock, which would have allowed to still install the cable and get the pump going before we run out of water.
While digging the trench our workers managed to find the main underground water pipeline twice ... that is with a pick. So, who needs water witching or divining :o) Last resort was to close all water to all rooms and ourselves, the restaurant, the winery and distillery. That is the moment when you feel the need for a refreshing bath more urgent than ever. Then the phone call came through: Sorry Sir, our guys didn't pick up the cable in Cape Town, it will only be here tomorrow morning. That will have a ripple effect being fully booked the next few days. ... Maybe I should take a nap and maybe it all goes away.

Shiraz

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:39:00 +0000

Shiraz is comming in. Since early this morning we are harvesting Shiraz. Unlike the Chardonnay this vineyard was lesser hit by disease.
A short scare with our small herd of Alpacas when one of my oldest females started coughing and develloped a feaver as it were the same symptoms that led to the untimely death of the last female in December.
I learned a lot about swimming pool pumps after taking the pump apart not once but more than 8 times until we found the cause of the leaking problem with the help of Janine a competent woman who has just opened her own little pool service business besides working a fulltime dayjob and raising a child.

Harvest

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:23:00 +0000

It took another day to harvest the lot, not because it was so much but so little and the grapes far apart and in small bunches. To give you an indication how much damage we had in the Chardonnay vineyard: last year we harvested 8,9 tons of grapes from 1,8 ht organic Chardonnay - this year we brought in 3,3 tons which is a loss of 62% against a normal year. After all the cost and care and man-hours this was quite disappointing. We estimated a loss of 40% and thought this to be bad enough. But let us be hopeful and positive the rest of the harvest is still to come. The picture shows the badly effected vine with virtually no grapes hanging.

HARVEST HAS STARTED

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:48:00 +0000

Today we brought in our organic Chardonnay for Cape classic (champagner), which has to come in rather neutral and early. The team of Grove Jordaan, who did last years harvest as well came thankfully in on short notice and cleaned the block in one day. It was a difficult harvest as our Chardonnay block had been hard hit by downy mildew. It wasn't a good year for organic farming, at least here on Oude Wellington. It is a pity because at the beginning of the season the block was promising a very good harvest. The picture shows Grove (left) and Sydney.
But we also have good news. The new Currant Abbey is in the bottle and after approval and labelling will be available again.

Currant Abbey

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 11:09:00 +0000

After fixing several old "sins" (you know those urgent "fix it for now" jobbies) at the main water pipeline to the vineyards our "handyman" Mervin fixed it good and solid. So that we can eventually come to the main task of the day which is to bottle the first batch of Currant Abbey our Ruby Cabernet based easy drinking red-wine which has become so popular, that there is a waiting list for it. The picture shows Sydney checking glass and logistic in the cellar.

The endless water story

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:56:00 +0000

Today on Oude Wellington the 4star Guest house status was once more confirmed by the grading council of South Africa. The weather has turned to hot and the grass all around us is dry. Every time we hear a helicopter we are worried a bush fire might be on its way. Meanwhile we had a tragic death of one of our pregnant Alpaca females. Suddenly and without previous symptoms Snowy collapsed and died within half an hour. The vet diagnosed an acute lung infection turned fatal. She was one of the most forth comming animals as we had hand raised her when she was a young kria.
The vines are thirsty and water stressed and at this very moment when we need the water most urgently the main water pipe had to burst. So we spend the day digging out the damaged pipe and repair it.
Harvest is just around the corner now and we are getting the cellar ready, the yeasts ordered and the mind set for this time of the year again when all the efforts of the year are coming together again.

New Year 2010

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:25:00 +0000

It has been a while, but CHristmas and New Year took up so much of my time and energy. Time seems to rush faster in the last quarter of the year than in the rest of it. In the organic vineyards we have been hard hit by Downy mildew (a fungal desease), wheras the conventionallyt farmed blocks are less effected. The grapes are growing, the weather has been cooler than last year and somewhat unpredictable with massive winds and cold spells.
Meanwhile the clock is ticking for the Soccer World Cup. Our first bookings are coming in but not in the amount predicted.
We can proudly present our first 10year old brandy. Unmistakenly flavours of hazelnut and very smooth. 100% pure potstill brandy, unaltered, no additives just water. Our range covers now a 3,5 and 10 year old distinguishable by their colour green for 3 year, black for 5 year and blue for ten year). I had planned the entire packaging in detail like labels (top, front, back, tunnel, tunnel top)to match in colour with the collar ribbon and tunnel colour. But in the Cape before Christmas the entire province goes into hibernation. Even on official days open no work is done, calls are not returned and urgency is spelled S-L-O-W. Needless to say that we did not receive the ribbons nor the tunnels in time for the Christmas trade. Well, all should come up to speed before end of the month ... I hope.
Sydney also made our first natural sweet wine which we call "Dolce" (Italian for sweet or desert).

Finally a holiday

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:08:00 +0000

Back at last. I needed the bush as a matter of urgency, so since my last blog I just took off to Botswana. If you want to see some pictures click here http://picasaweb.google.com/OudeWellington/WellingtonToBotswana2009?feat=directlink
We had a bit of bad luck 100Km south of Ganzi. travelling at a modest 80Km/h suddenly a big bang and the top water pipe to the radiator exploded. A friendly crowed of Namibians stoped to help, but the top gasket had already blown so all we could do was to haul the car to Grobabis in Namibia and have it repaired as apparently there is no qualified garage is in Ganzi. We wited until almost midnight and spend the night in the car at the border. The repair was professional and within three days we could continue to the central Kalahari. Hot as hell it was, but I enjoyed it very much. It is my favourite space in Africa. After all my previous' years trouble and the trauma of a forced divorce I really felt like the space and infinity of the great out doors. At grasslands a recommendation by my good friend Mike Copeland we encounterd not one but two deadly snakes in the out-door shower at their campsite. As Lizel wanted to adjust the shower head she looked eye to eye at a bright yellow Cape cobra. Three bushman workers busy on their way to feed the lions in the sanctuary volunteered to help. They swiftly found a poffadder and regarded the case closed and could not quite understand us going on about a cobra. The snake sprayed her load straight at me when we tried to chase her away. I washed my face for minutes and was a bit worried for my eyesight. Only after I found the cobra hidden inside the shower structure the bushman believed us and sorted the second snake out as well. With high respect and cautiously I might add. I would have liked to just chase them away but they told us that they would always return and it be too dangerous for future guests taking an innocent shower.
Muremi, Sawuti and Chobe were as wonderful as always and after about three and a half weeks we slowely meandered back to Jo'burg, visited my daughter and then through to the coast to spend more time with our good friends in Port Alfred and Hermanus but not before we stayed at tsitsikama and watched the wales.
Back on the farm the vines had grown and we heard about the devastating storm they had a few days ago and that had smashed one of our new barn doors and a few windows. So after opening copious amounts of letters and emails and have told the stories of the journey we are back to the farm life with labeling and the usual farm work.

Labelling and trenching

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:38:00 +0000

When you start you can't finish - that is how it felt this week. We dug out one trench (these are channels for draining rainwater off the land) and being so nice and wet the grass likes to grow vigorously and blocking the pipes underneath the roads, but once this was done we realized all the others needed the same back braking effort. We hired the help of 10 extra men to tackle the task. A sudden order for most of our Chardonnay ended up in us labelling all afternoon. We used the new sqeechy to dry the bottles. In the "old" days we washed and dried the bottles by hand, but today we used the new toy most efficiently. It was 4 times the speed we normally performed.
In the vineyards the first "tears" are to see a good sign that the plants are pushing sap to the branches and wounds the pruning has left behind. Soon the first buds are swelling and the new circle starts all over again.
The weeks are too short to attend to all the work, especially when it rains in between.

Pruning time

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:53:00 +0000

It is pruning time for the vines. The last few days we have been busy pruning the vines, that is cutting back last years shoots and grape bearing branches and leaving just two buds per shoot. We had a new team this year and have been pleasantly surprised. The efficiency and correctness in pruning was quite impressive.

Meanwhile now is also the time to do all the "one day tasks" meaning those tasks like cleaning up the shed etc. that is always put at the end of the list.
In the winery we bottled some previous vintage Ruby Cabernet and Shiraz and we are getting ready for the larger volume of the new Currant Abbey.

We also hired a nice crowd of young men to clean the vineyard bankies (under the vines) and Sydney has been very organized managing all the farm tasks besides his work in the cellar.
The other picture is myself under graffiti attack from ten year old Lise ;o)
I am still trying to catch Margret on a good day for a photo to introduce our "office Governement" :o) to you readers. Margret is the soul of the paperwork but doubles up as export wizz, checking in and out of guests, winetasting and even driving the truck to fetch sand and stones. She is an all round talend and jack of all trade, but unlike the saying she is the master of all.

The winner is ...

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:10:00 +0000

Today we did the lucky draw of our "win a weekend at Oude Wellington" and the lucky name that was drawn as the winner is Lana George and partner for a weekend in our honeymoon suite.
We had so much interest in our competition that we even added a second price being a one night "sleep over" at Oude Wellington. This price goes to Lynn Coetzee and her partner.

Congratulations to the lucky ones and good luck to all the others for the next competition, which starts from today.

winery

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:30:00 +0000

Good news the new Blanc de Noir 2009 is in the bottle. We have not decided yet what name to give, but present favourite is Eros - potion -

Marketing department

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:57:00 +0000

The newest member of Oude Wellington Estate and in charge of marketing, hospitality and research is Lizel. With loads of experience and ideas she single handed created the "marketing department" here on the farm. Since she took over this well neglected "department" sales have increased significantly as well as our data bank. She is also the one that can with enormous patience get through to Government departments - unlike us common mortals who fail to get past the first friendly "The lady who deals with your query is on training leave" leaving us wonder when she will be trained to attend to our problem. Lizel is always in a good mood even when it gets busy and hectic. With one word it is a pleasure to work with Lizel and our customers are full of compliments about her. As you can see it does get cold in South Africa and I added this picture to make my European friends feel better about their own summer.

Vegetable

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:34:00 +0000

Aren't they impressive? These freshly picked courgettes are Sydney's pride and joy. With great dedication he had started growing vegetables on an experimental scale in a small self constructed hothouse without soil, just water and nutrition and seeds. As the photo proves they are even bigger than a Landrover (toy Landi that is). They are indeed quite big and an outright success. Needless to say we are looking forward to fresh tomatoes and other veggies on our dinner plates. Sydney really is into this new hobby and he is daily seen with a tape measure recording the progression of growth of his "babies", while "THE" peacock (that is THE peacock that has single "beakingly" annihilated any other attempt of gardening within his infamous reach)is impatiently waiting for his chance to raid the place. But seriously, we are all impressed as to how fast and neat the veggies are growing in this method called hydroponics.

More new stuff

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:12:00 +0000

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

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:55:00 +0000

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

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:10:00 +0000

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.

Festival time

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:48:00 +0000

The attached picture does nor really belong to the Oude Wellington blog but is just a snippet of the exiting and colourful world of Grahamstown during the National Arts Festival. We spend a week indulging in paintings, plays, comedy, ballet and street crafts. All though the spirit was not as high as last years (the traders and venue owners complaint about over regulation and the new alcohol laws prohibiting night trade)it was again most enjoyable and some extraordinary gems of performances were on offer. I had a whole week with my little daughter who came from Johburg's stress factory to spend the time with me. With one word I enjoyed every minute of the festival and can only enthusiastically recommend this wonderful event to anyone interested in art and theater.

Koos Kombuis

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 10:09:00 +0000

My dear Australien friends the Ross family send me the attached Afrikaans language article from Rapport online. It is the experience of a well known singer who travelled to Wellington wine and brandy route and stopped by Oude Wellington. So click here for the text.Media/Rapport-2009.pdf

Victoria Falls at home

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:03:00 +0000

No picture at this stage. There was no time. During yesterday's morning the normal rain turned into a major down pour. Large amount of water tried to squeeze into the gullies and storm-water pipes, but it was too much and it start running over onto the paving and down hill. Oude Wellington is at the bottom of its own little valley and the water follows gravity towards the buildings. The force is so destructive and fast one has to see to believe it. Murphy's law applies so the main drainage pipe blocked soon as many leaves packed into it and found ingrown roots from a nearby tree to hang onto. The result was a flooded restaurant kitchen and a ballistic chef throwing a tantrum as only chef's can do. Our brave and wet workers Mervin, Gert and Hendric managed to clear the ingrown roots from the pipe and eventually the stress was over and all water went downstream less violently and we were left with cleaning up the mess left behind. One needs lots of water to clean properly but you need even more water to make it a real mess.

Winter Time

info@kapwein.com (Oude Wellington Estate) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:07:00 +0000

What are we doing at the moment besides hiding with a glass of red wine in front of the fireplace? On Oude Wellington we are busy with fencing as our neighbour is bringing in sheep to graze on some of the land to keep vegetation low as a fire prevention for the coming season. Sheep arn't the brightest of animals and love to stray away getting into trouble in dongas (deep furrows) and other places of no return. The last few weeks not much else had happend besided the sad story of one of our workers was caught stealing and a dear friend Hannes Adendorff died just last Saturday drowning in a river. He was a skilled thatcher and sole breadwinner of a very large family and employer to many other folks of the area around Bredarsdorp. He will be missed and the tragedy will touch many families
Not easy to lead over to happier events after this one, so here it is. The Country Life magazine published a long article about the Cape Brandy Route including us with a picture of the Oude Wellington kitchen in full page format. If you like you can click here.
The winter rains have come in long and strong with the usual erosion of good soil and blocked drain pipes. It rained into my office and my landrover (but that is part of the Landrover experience).
We started a competition for all wine buyers: one weekend for two on Oude Wellington for wine purchases over 200Rand. For every 75 entries there is a draw. So take the chance and pop in, maybe it is your treat next week.
Todays picture is the proof of Sydney cooking.