Backsberg Week in Review

Last week Tuesday and Wednesday we harvested some merlot and cab sav respectively for our Backsberg Rosé. Both the blocks of vineyards are carrying a heavy-ish crop. We had already dropped some of the fruit weeks back, but still felt things were on the heavy side. Merlot grapes have this tendency to sometimes grow in clumps (or 'koeke') with the inside bunches lagging the rest of the bunches in terms of ripeness. Thus, we went through the merlot block and took off these inner bunches. Because this was a slightly trickier job than purely harvesting the entire block we decided to start at first light (i.e 5:45am) instead of the usual 4am start.

Here is a view from the block.


Here is Pieter who we placed in the trailer to assist the carriers offload the crates of grapes in a slightly more gentle manner. Just chucking the grapes in the trailer can lead to bruising of the grape skins and the releasing of unwanted tannins.


On Wednesday we also took in some pinot noir for our sparkling wine (which is a blend of chardonnnay and the pinot).


We didn't harvest for the rest of the week, but Thursday saw me going through to our Durbanville sauvignon blanc vineyard to check on the progress. The vineyard is established on the farm, Altydgedacht. The grapes we tasted in the vineyard were nothing short of delicious- I couldn't stop munching on them! The grapes, without question, are going into the John Martin, our reserve Sauvignon Blanc. Here is a pic of the vineyard.


To round off the week I did a last minute wine delivery on Friday evening to a ship that is docked at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. The ship, The World, does a two year route, yes you guessed it...around the world. Chatting to the food and beverage managed I gathered that ship was not your normal cruise liner, but rather comprised of a number of luxury apartments which were occupied on a time-share basis. So you could hop on for that part of the trip which interested you...shame very rough:)


I do hope the Backsberg Cabernet Sauvignon and the Sauvignon Blanc, which they ordered, will ease the suffering!

SB