In Full Flight! 2019 Vintage

Greetings, Vondelingers

Due to bucket loads of sunshine, the 2019 vintage here at Vondeling is well under way. Some very nice Chardonnay was picked to begin with, followed by Sauvignon Blanc from vines planted in 1981 and 1983, giving some tremendously juicy and sumptuous flavours.

Proof will be in the pudding, as they say. Matthew, our senior wine maker, is quite excited about the whites so far, due to the grapes retaining some wonderful acidity. We have also welcomed our “Cellar Rats” from overseas who have come to work the harvest.
From left to right: Marvin from Germany, Jack from England, Alex from USA and Isabell from Germany. Our winemaker, Emile, (far right) is doing a great job of harnessing their enthusiasm.

Today we are picking Merlot for our Rosé. Absolutely beautiful grapes.

The Eskom power shedding can play absolute havock at this time of year in the winery, but luckily we invested in two enormous generators 3 years ago. The minute the power cuts out, the generators kick in, so we are currently thanking our lucky stars for those. If we didn’t have them at the moment, with all the power outages, it would be a complete nightmare.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Any excuse to show love and affection is absolutely essential in my book. If you can’t get away from the office or children to spoil your loved one on Valentine’s Day, why not join us for a delectable Cheese & Charcuterie Platter on our shaded veranda this Saturday. The wine will be chilled and the views unbeatable. See our Valentine’s offer below.

Last week Bridget and I drove up to Plettenberg Bay to present a personalised wine tasting to The Plett Plonkers Wine Club. We had a tremendous evening and a big ‘thank you’ to Bill Ingram (Chairman) and the members for a most fantastic evening and enormous order!

On another note, it was terrific to have our 2017 Vondeling Chardonnay amongst the 12 Best South African Wines in the British Independent newspaper last week…You can read the article here.

Finally, a rather lovely picture of Matthew Copeland, our senior winemaker, with his boys Josh and Henry. During harvest he doesn’t get to see as much of them as he would like.