Busy February

Greetings Vondelingers

Well, it’s been all systems go this month, with the grape harvest in full flow and an extraordinary rain storm last week, which put the breaks on our picking schedule and uprooted some of our newly planted almond trees. Luckily, we saw the rain coming and managed to finish picking all the whites before the storm arrived. We had 38 mm, which is very unusual for February in this part of the world, but a very welcomed post-harvest irrigation considering water shortages and load shedding.

Above shows, Basson (Vondeling Farm Manager) with a load of freshly picked Pinotage and our young almond orchard, planted last August, before the storm. About 100 trees were literally blown out of the ground, but we managed to rescue most of the casualties.

So far the harvest is generally lower than usual across the board, but the quality of the grapes is looking exceptional. Early signs are that 2023 could be a very good vintage. Time will tell. Above is our Chenin Blanc grapes picked from the Graveyard block, which provides the backbone of our flagship Babiana white blend.

All systems go at our cellar below!

Last week I was also exhibiting our wines at the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town for an American delegation, Sister Cities International. There were about 500 people attending and it was a really fantastic evening! Jordan Hill-Lewis (Mayor of Cape Town) was hosting proceedings and he popped over to say how much he enjoyed the odd glass of Vondeling – that really was fantastic!

Finally, its been a pleasure having Cécil helping us with harvest this year. She is our intern cellar rat from Hamburg, Germany and she has been a great success. Here she is in the vineyard as well as getting some valuable tips from our head winemaker Matt at the cellar!