Greetings Vondelingers
I write to you from a chilly Voor-Paardeberg. We had above average rains in July for our farms (143mm) and the nights have been nice and chilly, ensuring a decent vernalisation of the vines, encouraging dormancy. Bud break should start between the 3rd week in August and the 3rd week in September, depending on variety and aspect.
Meanwhile our industry and those who either supply it or trade our wines, are in total tail spin. Hotels, restaurants, bars, pubs, guesthouses, safari lodges and of course wineries and their tasting rooms are unable to serve wine. However, the government does allow for our mini van taxis carrying 14 or 15 passengers to be 100% full. Many people are going hungry, as thousands of people have lost their jobs with little or no compensation. At least we have a place to go and pray. To protest, we took a photograph of our workforce.
This month we did manage to export wine to UK, Holland, Belgium and British Columbia in Canada thank goodness. Meanwhile we have been planting almond trees. There have been some spectacular days with cool crisp weather, ideal for planting.
On the wine front, its incredibly pleasing that both our flagship wines, The Monsonia Rhone Blend and Chenin based Babiana white blend were both awarded 93 points in Wine Magazine and 4 ½ stars in the 2020 Platter Wine Guide respectively.
Finally, a very Happy Birthday to Matt, our wonderful Senior winemaker , who turned 44 last week.
That’s it for now. Please take care in these troubled, strange, difficult times. It will get better…sometime.
Best,
Julian
