This year sort of was a very good example of when our summer changes into autumn and then winter. It seems to me the weather changed around the beginning of April with temperatures dropping to high twenties and lows into the high to mid tens. With May arriving the temperatures sort of - with the help of wetter weather dropped into the low to mid twenties and the minimum temperatures low teens.
Out of the farmers perspective it means that the soil temperatures also drop accordingly and the plants will go into rest. The roots stop its growth burst which usually happens in early autumn but with our sometimes high temperatures in autumn and early winter this growth phase can go on very much longer. You sometimes see especially peach and apricot trees having a big new growth spur which is an indication of this happening.
I happen also to notice some of the younger peach trees having some blossoms. Totally the wrong time and usaully an indication of the weather patterns. I find that the young peach trees are not always sure when to bloom and not. The older the get the fall into pattern and go into rest and come out of it at the right time. Something like children.
As most of you see we are busy taking out apricot and vineyards. We are now busy putting in the first of the irrigation extensions. We are busy repacing the flood irrigation system at Herminashof with a micro irrigation. Also making ready to plant some apricots in the Muscadel and Sultana's place.
Withoek will also be bottling their 2010 Withoek Vintage and 2010 Ficks Ruby Port - sorry EU Cape - next week and if we rush it it might be ready for the upcoming Port Festival. The system of getting a wine approved is actually a long process and a lot depends on the Department of Agriculture for chemical analysis where they determine your alcohol levels which you may put on the label. Further it has to go through a tasting panel deciding if the product is what you say it is. In this case a Vintage and Ruby Port.
To finish it off you can only print the labels when you know the precise alcohol levels. So hold your thumbs for the 16th of June for tasting the new Vintage and Ruby ports.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Warm, Cooler, Port
The temperatures are slowly falling and you want to have something to warm you up in the cold evenings. Have a port. And while you at it support the local guys. Withoek released this week its' 2009 Cape Ruby. Yes we may not use that 'P' word anymore. It is and will stay in the future just a plain old Cape. Withoek uses the vintage indication for the Port even though you are not suppose to use it. For us it is an indication of a certain batch of this style of Cape.
We are selling it in a 375ml package under the Geyser label and a 750ml under the Withoek one. It is a more traditional style of Port with typical spices with a good balance between the sugar and alcohol. A real must for this colder weather.
In the next three weeks we also going to bottle the Fick's Ruby and a vintage port from the Kairos range. Both promise to warm the heart and body in this suppose to be colder winter.
With taking out of orchards and vineyards it is going well. We still have about three ha to take out and then the finally preparations will start.
Withoek is also selling the wood from the vineyards so do contact if you are interested in a nice braai with vines.
We are selling it in a 375ml package under the Geyser label and a 750ml under the Withoek one. It is a more traditional style of Port with typical spices with a good balance between the sugar and alcohol. A real must for this colder weather.
In the next three weeks we also going to bottle the Fick's Ruby and a vintage port from the Kairos range. Both promise to warm the heart and body in this suppose to be colder winter.
With taking out of orchards and vineyards it is going well. We still have about three ha to take out and then the finally preparations will start.
Withoek is also selling the wood from the vineyards so do contact if you are interested in a nice braai with vines.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Change of season
With the night temperatures dropping and the days becoming the usual autumn bright sunshine days Withoek is starting to prepare for the new blocks to be planted.
As usual we will have as part of our job creation the seasonal workers to cut down vineyards and orchards and the wood sold in the local market. So do come we still have some very dry wood from last year and some newer ones from this year.
Withoek is busy taking out some vineyards at Herminashof and replacing it with Apricot cultivars Soldonne and Bebeco. Both the apricot cultivars is drying cultivars. With this we will have more drying options and higher volumes.
At the Besemkop farm we are planting the Apriums - Apricot and plum hybrid - which is for the fresh market but actually developed for the dried fruit markets. On the eastern side of the road we will be planting some Chenin blanc.
The table grape block next to the Calitzdorp Country Lodge will be replaced by an extension of the Chenin block that was planted there last year. This making the block over 2 ha. On the Wesoewer side of the the same farm we are taking out some old Apricot - Bullida - orchard and Hanepoot vineyard and putting in African Rose an new plum cultivar suppose to be very early. This is quite a new variety and only available the last two years commercially.
For those who sometimes wander passed Jakkalskop will notice we are also taking out another vineyard which was an old experimental block with a white variety, Souzao and Peach trees on it. This will be replaced with Chenin blanc block. We will also develope a 2 ha block of Chenin blanc next to our red vineyard blocks.
The total replanting and replacing project will be 7 ha of which two is total new plantings.
As if we don't keep ourselves busy enough we will also have 2ha of flood irrigation being replaced by micro irrigation and a Peach orchard's drip irrigation getting the second line.
Withoek will be closed over the week with all the holidays. I am available if you want to buy any wines so do contact if necceasary.
Maybe a bit of promotion for a new establishment in Calitzdorp. Erica and Hans Calitz of the Donkey Trail opened a restaurant, Aloe Aloe, in Groenfontein on their property. They serve a Sunday afternoon spread which really is excellent. Do make reservations though. It really is worht while with one of the most beautiful Karoo drives.
As usual we will have as part of our job creation the seasonal workers to cut down vineyards and orchards and the wood sold in the local market. So do come we still have some very dry wood from last year and some newer ones from this year.
Withoek is busy taking out some vineyards at Herminashof and replacing it with Apricot cultivars Soldonne and Bebeco. Both the apricot cultivars is drying cultivars. With this we will have more drying options and higher volumes.
At the Besemkop farm we are planting the Apriums - Apricot and plum hybrid - which is for the fresh market but actually developed for the dried fruit markets. On the eastern side of the road we will be planting some Chenin blanc.
The table grape block next to the Calitzdorp Country Lodge will be replaced by an extension of the Chenin block that was planted there last year. This making the block over 2 ha. On the Wesoewer side of the the same farm we are taking out some old Apricot - Bullida - orchard and Hanepoot vineyard and putting in African Rose an new plum cultivar suppose to be very early. This is quite a new variety and only available the last two years commercially.
For those who sometimes wander passed Jakkalskop will notice we are also taking out another vineyard which was an old experimental block with a white variety, Souzao and Peach trees on it. This will be replaced with Chenin blanc block. We will also develope a 2 ha block of Chenin blanc next to our red vineyard blocks.
The total replanting and replacing project will be 7 ha of which two is total new plantings.
As if we don't keep ourselves busy enough we will also have 2ha of flood irrigation being replaced by micro irrigation and a Peach orchard's drip irrigation getting the second line.
Withoek will be closed over the week with all the holidays. I am available if you want to buy any wines so do contact if necceasary.
Maybe a bit of promotion for a new establishment in Calitzdorp. Erica and Hans Calitz of the Donkey Trail opened a restaurant, Aloe Aloe, in Groenfontein on their property. They serve a Sunday afternoon spread which really is excellent. Do make reservations though. It really is worht while with one of the most beautiful Karoo drives.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Herminashof Cottage
In small villages like our own things do take time. Nothing happens like overnight. It is sometimes makes you love this place and also can lead to some frustration.
Our cottage renovation took more than a year and is now ready for old and new friends to enjoy. With older buildings the facelift takes longer and usually there is some surprises underleath the layers of cement. You might also find that some small problems can easily esculate into something major.
The cottage can sleep 4 and does have an bathroom which is shared. Bath and shower. Small self catering kitchen with microwave, frigerator and small stove. A must is the small braai area and wood will be provided. Less than 300 m from the centre of the town and still on a farm. Something everybody will like.
Do come and enjoy the Calitzdorp scenery with coffee at Handelshuis. Lunch at The Red Coffee Pot and dinner at Lorenzo's. Or order in pizza from the Pizza Place. Have a farmers night out at Bosvarkie or a quiet night / day in with a good book.
As I said nothing happens overnight and that is why you might as well stay the weekend and something might happen.
On the farm we are busy cleaning up like that great song of the rock group Barney states 'Clean up'. It will probably take a few weeks and we still have to take out some of the vineyards / orchards for the new plantings. Also finishing off the last years vineyards with the necessary anchors to keep the cordons in position.
The renovation of the old tasting room is also coming along and I must say not many buildings beats the view on Swartberg and Besemkop from the stoep. A real stoep to sit and chat and have good coffee. Hope to do that within a year.
Our cottage renovation took more than a year and is now ready for old and new friends to enjoy. With older buildings the facelift takes longer and usually there is some surprises underleath the layers of cement. You might also find that some small problems can easily esculate into something major.
The cottage can sleep 4 and does have an bathroom which is shared. Bath and shower. Small self catering kitchen with microwave, frigerator and small stove. A must is the small braai area and wood will be provided. Less than 300 m from the centre of the town and still on a farm. Something everybody will like.
Do come and enjoy the Calitzdorp scenery with coffee at Handelshuis. Lunch at The Red Coffee Pot and dinner at Lorenzo's. Or order in pizza from the Pizza Place. Have a farmers night out at Bosvarkie or a quiet night / day in with a good book.
As I said nothing happens overnight and that is why you might as well stay the weekend and something might happen.
On the farm we are busy cleaning up like that great song of the rock group Barney states 'Clean up'. It will probably take a few weeks and we still have to take out some of the vineyards / orchards for the new plantings. Also finishing off the last years vineyards with the necessary anchors to keep the cordons in position.
The renovation of the old tasting room is also coming along and I must say not many buildings beats the view on Swartberg and Besemkop from the stoep. A real stoep to sit and chat and have good coffee. Hope to do that within a year.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Withoek fermenting
Withoek decided this year to make a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot with the purpose of ending up with a Bordeaux blend. We are a small cellar and don't get as much chance as the bigger cellars to experiment especially with blends.
Our Cab finished it's fermentation after a week and was basket pressed today. The Merlot was crushed at 25 degrees Balling and really looks good. Our Petit we will only harvest tomorrow and keep in cool storage until the it's time arrives to crush.
With all the wines we try and keep the fermenting temperature between 24 and 26 degrees for slower fermentation. Because of the cold storage of 4 days we do have a maceration period of about 48 hours before fermentation starts. Enough time for a lot of extraction of the flavours. Usually most of your colour is extracted within the first 72 hours of the fermentation process and with it most of your tannins as well. With the lower temperature I believe this happens at a slower rate but more controled.
News from our winemaker, Ronnie van der Walt. He liked Calitzdorp so much and decided to come more regurarly to keep watch as the Nederburg ad states to 'keep an eye on Mother Nature'. He asked to renovate the Withoek old tasting room into a 'bachelors flat'. I must add this must be the flat with the most beautiful view on the town and the Swartberg. Certainly nice having a new face on the Wesoewer road and certainly a big plus for Calitzdorp. Go and have a look.
On our more comercial agricultural side we are busy finishing off the Colombar and later this week the Petit, Ruby Cab and Tinta Barocca will get their turn. Then it is back to cleaning up and making ready for the new plantings for this year.
Our Cab finished it's fermentation after a week and was basket pressed today. The Merlot was crushed at 25 degrees Balling and really looks good. Our Petit we will only harvest tomorrow and keep in cool storage until the it's time arrives to crush.
With all the wines we try and keep the fermenting temperature between 24 and 26 degrees for slower fermentation. Because of the cold storage of 4 days we do have a maceration period of about 48 hours before fermentation starts. Enough time for a lot of extraction of the flavours. Usually most of your colour is extracted within the first 72 hours of the fermentation process and with it most of your tannins as well. With the lower temperature I believe this happens at a slower rate but more controled.
News from our winemaker, Ronnie van der Walt. He liked Calitzdorp so much and decided to come more regurarly to keep watch as the Nederburg ad states to 'keep an eye on Mother Nature'. He asked to renovate the Withoek old tasting room into a 'bachelors flat'. I must add this must be the flat with the most beautiful view on the town and the Swartberg. Certainly nice having a new face on the Wesoewer road and certainly a big plus for Calitzdorp. Go and have a look.
On our more comercial agricultural side we are busy finishing off the Colombar and later this week the Petit, Ruby Cab and Tinta Barocca will get their turn. Then it is back to cleaning up and making ready for the new plantings for this year.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Cabernet is Ready
Today we started to pick the Cabernet Sauvignon. This morning its sugar tested 25 degrees balling. The Petit Verdot and Merlot is still not ready and tested 23.0 and 23.6 degrees balling.
After picking we will cool the Cabernet down to 5 degrees Celsius. Two reason for this. The grapes usually will measure about the same temperature as the air or micro climate around the berries. When this happens in the Calitzdorp that temperature can be around 25 - 35 degrees Celsius. The fermentation will go quickly and put a lot of stress on my allready shaky cooling system. I also feel that a longer fermentation period under less stressful enviroment will lead to a better wine. In winemaking terms we are talking about a cold maceration before the fermentation.
The Merlot and Petit will probably be ready next week. And as with most things they will be probably be ready the same day.
Ronnie van der Walt one of the guys of last years wine school flew in on Saturday. He is planning to make a Merlot based blend. Ronnie previously also involved in restaurant business and an artist by training, works this year with Withoek Cellar to also master the art of winemaking. He allready had to take the samples for sugars and were busy cleaning and preparing the cellar for the grapes today.
We will report on Ronnie's status during this years harvest.
After picking we will cool the Cabernet down to 5 degrees Celsius. Two reason for this. The grapes usually will measure about the same temperature as the air or micro climate around the berries. When this happens in the Calitzdorp that temperature can be around 25 - 35 degrees Celsius. The fermentation will go quickly and put a lot of stress on my allready shaky cooling system. I also feel that a longer fermentation period under less stressful enviroment will lead to a better wine. In winemaking terms we are talking about a cold maceration before the fermentation.
The Merlot and Petit will probably be ready next week. And as with most things they will be probably be ready the same day.
Ronnie van der Walt one of the guys of last years wine school flew in on Saturday. He is planning to make a Merlot based blend. Ronnie previously also involved in restaurant business and an artist by training, works this year with Withoek Cellar to also master the art of winemaking. He allready had to take the samples for sugars and were busy cleaning and preparing the cellar for the grapes today.
We will report on Ronnie's status during this years harvest.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Final Countdown
The 2010/11 season now slowly going into the final phases. Our peach harvest was good and even though the prices weren't the best they still paid their dues.
As with our plums we went straight to the market with the table grapes. The prices weren't that high but we can't really complain. Because of our dry weather in the beginning we had excellent quality fruit in December but with the continuos short spells of rain combinating with humid warm days the fungi attacked big time. The table grapes is usually thinner and thus the fungi get easier hold on them. Further they are mostly planted on strong rootstocks with big vigourous growth which contributes to good fungi growth climates within the canopy.
Even though the weather didn't play along our harvest was good. But we are now reaching a phase in which we started deliver it to the Calitzdorp Cellar. This week we actually starting to do the harvest all grapes very seriously.
Our red wine cultivars sugars are still very low. I think the 40mm of thunder storm contributed more than we think. The table grapes sugar funny enough tends to a higher value than previous seasons.
Our wine making weekend seems to change from the coming weekend to the following weekend because of the low sugars. The quality of the grapes really looks good and I think this might be a good season.
As with our plums we went straight to the market with the table grapes. The prices weren't that high but we can't really complain. Because of our dry weather in the beginning we had excellent quality fruit in December but with the continuos short spells of rain combinating with humid warm days the fungi attacked big time. The table grapes is usually thinner and thus the fungi get easier hold on them. Further they are mostly planted on strong rootstocks with big vigourous growth which contributes to good fungi growth climates within the canopy.
Even though the weather didn't play along our harvest was good. But we are now reaching a phase in which we started deliver it to the Calitzdorp Cellar. This week we actually starting to do the harvest all grapes very seriously.
Our red wine cultivars sugars are still very low. I think the 40mm of thunder storm contributed more than we think. The table grapes sugar funny enough tends to a higher value than previous seasons.
Our wine making weekend seems to change from the coming weekend to the following weekend because of the low sugars. The quality of the grapes really looks good and I think this might be a good season.
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