Boschendal Harvest 2015 could be the best ever

Monday, 30 March, 2015
Doug Carew
The 2015 vintage has been fantastic in the vineyard with very little challenges and could be one of the greatest ever, says Stephan Joubert, the DGB group viticulturist responsible for ensuring Boschendal’s award winning winemaking team is supplied with grapes of exceptional quality.

“It’s a fantastic vintage with wines that will probably age better than any other vintage. If I ever have to choose a vintage to buy wine to keep, this will probably be my first choice,” says Joubert. “I am very excited about the cool climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but actually most cultivars this year.”

From a scientific point of view, 2015 is ticking all the boxes. “This year we have had excellent grape analysis (TA, pH), some of the best I have seen in many years. The TA was high with low pH,” says Joubert.

Boschendal Wines experienced an exceptional 2014 garnering a glittering array of medals at home as well as in the Americas, Europe and Asia and Joubert has even greater expectations for the 2015 vintage. “2015 has been one of the earliest vintages ever, between 2 and 4 weeks earlier than last year. We had a fantastic winter with enough rain and cold units, so we started with wet sub-soils which is very important for most vineyards in coastal areas, but especially dry land vineyards,” says Joubert. “Our Winter ended around mid-August when most of the rain stopped and the temperatures picked up quickly, ensuring a more even budburst, more even ripening and better quality.” Although Spring and early Summer were warmer than average, there were fewer heat spikes compared to previous years and it has been one of driest growing seasons in many years, very healthy conditions for the vineyards and grapes.

“At this stage 2015 is really showing a lot of potential. I cannot wait to see the finished wines from this vintage,” says Joubert. “I think we are going to see very good quality overall for all regions and cultivars. Some exceptionally good wines that can compete with the best in the word!” Visit www.boschendalwines.com for more information.