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 All the wines are safely in barrel busy or just finishing the malo-lactic fermentation and it is time to reflect on the 2005 harvest.
A comparatively warm and dry winter in 2004 gave us some cause for concern regarding timeous budding and equal ripening across the vineyards, but our vineyard manager Roelie Joubert adapted his pruning principles accordingly and we saw the first flourish of healthy shoots on time in early September as usual.
The dry spring and summer meant quite slow canopy growth but on the upside we had no disease. Bearing in mind the warm winter we were prepared to drop crop from mid- veraison to ensure proper even ripening across all the varieties.
Crop control started in earnest in mid December. All the mature vineyards were cut back to 2 bunches per shoot starting at 50 % veraison, the younger vineyards were immediately reduced to a single bunch per shoot to take the pressure off the shallow root systems and allow complete ripening.
So, starting with a normal crop of about 8 tons per hectare, we systematically went through and dropped bunches, all the way through until just before harvest. We cut off as much as 40% and many visitors to the estate commented on the poor desiccating bunches on the ground. We even had offers of people wanting to come and pick them to use for verjuice!
So, come harvest time, we were left with unblemished, perfectly formed and ripe healthy bunches. The pickers could move through the vineyards quickly as the selection had already been done by specially trained teams of "droppers". In most cases the grapes were all in by 10am, allowing the cellar team to get home and to bed at a reasonable hour.
A lightning and rain storm early in January refreshed the vines and had the added advantage of getting nitrogen into the soil and subsequently into the bunches. This led to smooth, trouble free fermentations with wonderful fruit expression. We made practically no nitrogen adjustments to the must in the winery which re-enforces the maxim to get the grapes’ chemistry right in the vineyard.
Generally we achieved proper ripeness at lower sugar levels, especially on the Merlot we are seeing opulence and fruit expression at around 13,2 % alcohol. I think this is mostly got to do with nice low cropping levels. The vine simply can put all its’ available resources into ripening a smaller crop more evenly. I am particularly pleased with Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc at this early stage. The wines are showing intensely dark, bright healthy colours, wonderfully pure fruit on the nose and palate and condensed, linear tannins. 18 months of barrel aging will ensure the real beauty of these varieties will emerge.
We have made less Chardonnay than usual, we were ruthless in dropping crop and I have already identified a fair proportion which will not go into the Meerlust label. What we do have in barrel encapsulates what I feel is the right direction for our Chardonnay- tangy, creamy and minerally nose and a full bodied, stony and chalky palate.
The Pinot Noir has just finished the malo but is particularly closed and brooding at this stage, but it has a bright lively colour and is hinting at an enticingly musky nose. Again, we have not used about 30 % of the Pinot fruit, it was sold off early on because it did not meet our standards.
So, broadly a promising vintage. Everything at this stage is still in single vineyard lots. In mid- June Hannes Myburgh, Roelie Joubert and I will taste every sample and permutation of the lots whereupon we will assemble the wines and return them to barrel. Only after a few months in barrel will we be able to give a definitive thumbs up to the vintage.
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