Post Port

After the Festival I really start enjoying what is great living in this Capital of ours.  The quiet sunny days - sometimes a bit misty - and cold evenings.  A glass of red wine and the more daring Port to end it off with.  Sounds bad  - probably have to call the AA but please waite till the end of the winter. 
The feedback on the festival has been good and it seems that we are going to make an annual event of this.  I think the town really needs it and it is good to showcase what we have to offer once a year. 
This last week also seen a little newspaper:  Calitzdorp Focus hit the streets.  Very informative and well planned.  Something to read for everyone in the community as well as visitors who wants to get to know our little village a bit better.  Look out for an article on Port in the next issue.

On Withoek the big bulldozer is doing its bit to really break the soils deep.  We want to break the soil as deep as possible.  By doing this we create a bigger tank and volume of soil which can be used by the plant to gather the necessary nutrients and water.  The deeper the better.  We are also busy putting up the trellis systems for vineyards planted last year.  This goes on well and we should be finished by the end of this week. 
With the Calitzdorp Dam overflowing the farmers all got some extra water.  With this all the storage water stored behind the dam wall is lost and the farmers must each use as much as they can.  At Withoek we flood irrigated some of our outside vineyards and orchards.  Mostly to wash out some of the salts building up because of the drip and micro irrigation.  We also help the soils to become moist and so the water will be there when the soil temperatures rise again and the early root growth burst happens.  This will help with the adsorption of minerals and nutrients for the plant and leads to better growth and hopefully and excellent harvest. 
We also will be bottling our Cabernet Sauvignon next week.  It is very fruity style with not high alcohol 13%.  Again in the softer style typical of Withoek.  So keep your eyes peeled for the first ones.