From Tulbagh to Constantia, Harvest 2016 is in full swing and has been earlier than ever

Friday, 29 January, 2016
Wine.co.za
With all the festivities and over-indulging on food and great wine, it's easy to forget that whilst many of us ease back into work, the wineries are gearing up for harvest and many have indeed started. It's the busiest time of the year for wineries and we've collected a few insights into how 2016 is going for different winemakers.

Graham Beck

Harvest kicked off with a serious bang this year. Extraordinary weather with lots of heat waves before New Year have set the tone for a challenging vintage of 2016. 

The team really struggled at the start of harvest at the cellar as they had a few unforeseen breakdowns occurring but having a great support team helped them manage to bring everything to a ready phase very quickly - the team just see these struggles as simply a necessary part of the challenge in the constant strive for the perfect bubble.

According to Pieter Fouche, the Farm Manager: “Disease pressure has been low due to the very dry conditions but the demand on water has been extraordinary. In these conditions we need to pulse the vineyard blocks all the time as the last thing we need, is for the vineyards to stress as this will cause “bevange” pseudo ripeness. I don’t think the winemakers will mind if we get a good down pour as long as things dry up quickly! The morale in the vineyard team remains high! Current weather stations are indicating moderate sunshine over the weekend…. Bring is on, please!

Avontuur

It so turns out that this harvest is another follow-up record-breaking one because of the very early starting date; in 2015 Avontuur experienced the earliest start date,16 January, in the history of Avontuur and this year they brought it forward by another 3 days.

This, together with the early heat waves they experienced at the end of 2015/early 2016, as well as the later than normal snowfall in the northern hemisphere is all surely a sign of the changing climate.

Says winemaker Jan van Rooyen, "At Avontuur Estate we have a great team and we are still in an area (or climate) that is excellent for premium reds, plus, there are some cool pockets of terroir for whites, so never fear, your winemaker is still here, same-same but with a difference, as should be expected. Cheers to the 2016 wine harvest and what it will bring to us – I am ready for it, and if I do things differently, then so be it!"

Saronsberg

They started harvesting Chardonnay on 5th January, two days earlier than last year which was a very early year as well. These grapes that were picked are used to produce base wine destined for their bottle fermented MCC.

Says winemaker Dewaldt Heyns, "For the rest of the season I expect the earlier ripening trend to continue. We will have a smaller window period available for harvest as various cultivars will ripen at the same time putting cellars under immense pressure to bring in their grapes in a much shorter timeframe utilising existing facilities."

The whole team are mindful of possible challenges such as water stress in the vines and the potentially a higher occurrence of sunburn and raisons contributing to over-ripe flavours in wines but we're positive that they have everything under control.

Steenberg

Harvest was an early one, like last year, starting on the 8th of January. It has also been warmer and drier than 2015 with small, healthy bunches with beautifully concentrated flavours. The team are keeping a close eye on the belling as the current heat can escalate the sugar levels quite rapidly.

Says Chanel Conradie, "2015 for us was an outstanding year and we expect 2016 to be as great. Andrew, one of our helpers in the Cellar is celebrating his 20th harvest anniversary with us." We raise a glass of bubbly to the Steenberg team.

 

  Want to share your Harvest 2016 news with us? Drop us an email.

 

wine.co.za

subscribe to news
The Graham Beck guys welcoming in the harvest
The Graham Beck guys welcoming in the harvest

Avontuur
Avontuur

Steenberg
Steenberg

Steenberg celebrate the harvest
Steenberg celebrate the harvest

more news