| Posted: 09.05.2008 | ||||||||
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of Global Warming in reverse.
The winter of 2007 in Elgin was very wet and abnormally cool and these weather conditions lasted right through the spring and into the early summer, creating challenges for both the viticulturists and winemaker Pieter Visser.
Average temperatures from September to November in our mountain vineyards were 13.8˚c, December was 17.5˚c, January averaged 17.6˚c, and February was a relatively cool 18.4˚c.
Despite the weather difficulties, we managed to maintain excellent grape quality with clean fruit and the stage was set for the latest ever harvest. Pinot Noir was harvested on the 3rd of March, Sauvignon Blanc on the 20th of March, Merlot on the 25th March with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc coming into the cellar on the 2nd April 2008. All the grapes were phenologically ripe when harvested, but slightly lower alcohols can be expected. Our production increased from 102 tons to 165 tons which was only partly due to younger vines coming into production.
This created space for an extended hanging time for the grapes and early indications from the cellar forespell a vintage of exceptional quality.
Even our friends, the baboons, were less of a problem this year, probably due to the fact that more vineyards on neighbouring farms are coming into production on the adjoining mountain slopes. Perhaps a Christmas card for the neighbours will be appropriate! This gave our Pinot Noir block, located at 450 metres above sea level, an opportunity to set a crop of 4.8 tons per hectare for the first time ever. The traditionally low yielding mountain vineyards gave their best yields ever across all cultivars.
The late summer season was as abnormally dry as the spring was wet, and as of the date of writing this (in early May) no autumn rains of any substance have yet fallen. This has not been good news for the Cepes which are normally to be found in abundance under the oak trees on the farm at this time of the year. I suppose one has to be prepared to make some sacrifices in return for a great harvest!
Last November I wrote about the devastating effects of the mountain fire that caused damage to our unique flora on the mountainside at Oak Valley, and more particularly of the damage to the Protea Stockoei, the largest known colony on earth of these extremely rare plants.
Happily, due to the exceptional dedication of botanists Robbie Thomas and Amida Johns, a start has been made with the restoration of the colony. Robbie and Amida painstakingly collected seeds from the few remaining plants and grew them out as seedlings before re-establishing them on the same site on the mountain, complete with wire covers to prevent attacks from rodents. Amazingly 200 of the 250 plants have survived!
In the same vein Oak Valley has just become the 8th wine farm to be awarded Champion status under the South African wine industry's Biodiversity and Wine Initiative. This initiative encourages the protection and preservation of the Western Cape's unique flora and fauna biome. We are proud to be able to carry this banner forward into the future.
In early April 2008 Oak Valley played host to the internationally famous Absa Cape Epic mountain bike race, when a group of 1200 of the worlds best mountain bike riders overnighted on the grounds of the Oak Valley sports complex. This event is second only to the Tour de France in terms of global TV viewership and is known as the most gruelling biking event on earth.
To coincide with this event, we were proud to announce the launch of The Oak Valley Mountain Biking Experience. This ride takes the amateur biking enthusiast on a 21km trail through the beautiful natural scenery of the Estate, including forests of ancient oak trees, through vineyards, through apple and pear orchards and across sub-clover/grass pastures, all set against the stunning backdrop of the protected fynbos on the slopes of the Groenlandberg Mountain.
This initiative will hopefully give pleasure to many mountain bikers in the future, and will also introduce them to the beauty of Oak Valley and to our wines.
Another exciting new venture on Oak Valley is a project involving the raising of pigs on acorns harvested from the more than 4000 oak trees on the estate. This also signals a return to the pioneering days of my great-grandfather, Sir Antonie Viljoen, who farmed with 700 acorn-reared pigs during the early 1900's.
The first hams, made according to the traditional artisanal salt-cured Spanish method, were produced during 2007, and the initial reaction to the product is that it is as close to the real thing as one can get! The key lies in an enzyme in the acorns that converts the intramuscular fat into increased HDL "good" cholesterol with a high percentage of oleic acid. The fat is marbelized in the meat and gives wonderful aromas and flavour, and is healthy too.
We are planning to expand the pilot project into a commercial venture and will be building a piggery for the free range pigs as well as a processing and curing room for the hams and other pork products.
The hams and related meats will join our existing free range pasture fed beef and will be marketed direct to the public from the farm under our Oak Valley Gourmet Meats label.
The 2008 vintage, at last, has seen our Pinot Noir volumes increase to over 1000 six bottle cases. Up to now we have had great difficulty in allocating small volumes amongst our customer base, especially after the good reviews that the two vintages to date have received. We will be adding to our Pinot Noir hectarage as we see a great future for this variety in our climatic conditions.
The last volume of our Oak Valley Blend 2004 will move out of the cellar shortly. This was the wine that won the International Trophy at the 2007 Decanter World Wine Awards and was also nominated by SA Wine Magazine as the best Bordeaux styled blend of the 2004 vintage in South Africa and was awarded 4½ stars. The 2005 vintage will be released in due course.
The 2007 Sauvignon Blanc shows exceptional fruit on the nose combined with good, fresh acidity and is also a Platter 4½ star wine.
This winter we will be planting more Chardonnay on the lower slopes of the mountain, greatly encouraged by the 17.5 point score given by Jancis Robinson to our 2006 Oak Valley Chardonnay. Jancis rated the wine amongst her top 10 SA wine selections, tasted from 4½ and 5 star rated wines appearing in the 2008 Platter Wine Guide.
In the near future we will be releasing our first white blend which was made in 2007, and is a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. We hope to release this wine to coincide with Cape Wine 2008, which is to be held in Cape Town from the 23rd to the 26th September 2008. We are looking forward to meeting our overseas associates and friends at what has become the largest event on the South African wine calendar.
See you then!
Anthony Rawbone-Viljoen
9th May 2008
