FIRST SNOW??

The winter seems to be setting in slowly.  Hopefully the first snow will fall this weekend.  Warming our hearts will be the Super14 final in Orlando though.  If the Stormers pulls this one off it will be coffee at Handelshuis on Sunday morning. 
Most of our trees and vines that we want to replace is now removed.  Just waiting for the big machines for soil preparation.  We also going to heighten the one damwall.  With the additional addition of 2,9 metres we will add another 11 000 kubic metres to this one dam.  This volume of water would be enough to irrigate the 12 extra ha assigned to the dam by extra irrigation system added.  This will bring the land under drip / micro irrigation to 90% of our irrigatable land.
Next week we will be filtering the Shiraz,  Muscadel and Ruby Port.  The bottles will also be brought in from the suppliers and hopefully the first bottling will start in June. 
The Shiraz is really looking good.  It does have an alcohol of about 16,5% but it is in full balance with an extract of around 40.  The Muscadel is busy being protein stabilized and this do take time.  We also have a real sweet ruby port for the winter.  Very much in the portuguese style.  While on the subject.  The SAPPA (SA Port producers association) is now busy taking stance against the EU after they refused to pay the 15 milj Euro for us after we changed the name from Port to Cape.  We are now not going to change the naming locally but still going to use the name Cape with exports.  This change should have happened in 2012.