However, we were blessed with abundant winter rains and during spring there were no violent winds to interfere with the flowering of the vines. That's when we realised we were seeing the perfect conditions for high fertility in the vineyards, and that if nothing untoward happened we would have to ready ourselves for another bumper crop. Time proved us right. We've had a bountiful but also brilliant quality harvest. The presses were kept running and they in turn kept us scuttling about the cellar trying to create tank space for all the newly fermented young wines. This is an exercise, I may add, that requires the ability of a top-class chess player in seeing three, four moves ahead. Make no mistake, it was a challenging season. Thank goodness for an experienced team that knows to do the right thing at the right time. But you must be more interested to hear about the young wines, so I’m happy to tell you the outlook is excellent, with both the Sauvignon blanc and the Chardonnay showing strong fruit flavours. We also have a good diversity of flavour profiles, the key to good blending. The more diverse the fruit flavours among the components, the greater the complexity that can be achieved. The considerable variation between day and night temperatures also ensured good colour in the reds with excellent varietal expression. 2014 is one for record books The biggest crop in the history of Durbanville Hills Wines – which means we sure won't run dry. For the first time in my experience, Sauvignon blanc was picked on one farm as late as April - in fact, on the 1st of April, and that is no joke. The first light snow fell on mountains in the Western Cape on 3 April. The Weather Office was quick to say itdoes not necessarily imply the onset of winter. My oak tree, which is already shedding its leaves, begs to differ. And, finally: With stocks of the 2013 Sauvignon blanc running dangerously low, it is with great relief that I can tell you that the first bottles of the 2014 Durbanville Hills Sauvignon blanc will be on the shelves of your favourite liquor store by late April - earlier than ever before. A pain in the tooth We are busy classifying the wines for the different blends and it is a tough task, especially on the teeth which get coated by wine both with the sipping and the spitting. The rule is not to brush directly after a tasting as the tartaric acid scrapes the enamel, or what is left of it, from the surface of the teeth. So you chew sugarless gum to stimulate the flow of saliva of which the high alkaline content neutralises most of the acid before brushing. I’ve become accustomed to people staring at my red teeth when popping into a supermarket after tasting a flight of 60 staining young red wines. Food and wine We often have to do food and wine evenings and recently between the hustle and bustle of the harvest invited food and wine fundi Katinka van Niekerk, co-author of The Food and Wine Pairing Guide, to provide us with some formal training on the subject. Despite my other faux pas (the less said the better) I was at least correct in first considering the weight of the food when deciding on the weight of the wine and likewise the intensity of flavours. We did some interesting tasting and pairing in looking at the third consideration: namely the five primary taste sensations saltiness, sweetness, acidity, bitterness and the lesser known umami or savoury sensation...read on Rhinofields Chardonnay's Top 10 and Gold medal To gauge whether our wines can stand their own against all comers we enter some local competitions such as Veritas and Michelangelo and international ones such as Chardonnay du Monde held at Château des Ravatys, the wine estate in Burgundy of the Pasteur Institute. The organisers seem to set extremely high standards – their "rigorously selected" panel of judges who taste within the ISO 9002 Quality Insurance standard, are first trained in tasting methodology at a oneday session followed by an assessment of the skill of each taster. Click HERE to read complete newsletter (pdf format) ...