Nothing in particular

I wasn't at the office last week, so I don't have anything interesting or something particular for last week. I will try to do some more writing by the end of this week. Pruning is basically coming to an end now. Here and there we still have some blocks to complete, but nothing big. Budding is picking up speed now. I see in the weather forecast that the next 15 days will also be moderately hot, so budding may even pick up more speed. A bit early though, but I read this morning that the whole world had the hottest July on record. No wonder the vineyards started budding so early!

Here are some random pics:

Coccinellidae (Lady Bird) mating. These guys play an integral role in the fight against the Mealy Bug.

Pruned vineyards (Still sleeping nicely)



And the Skurwe Jantjie again at his post

Part of History

Last Thursday our Cellar master and I went to see some really old vines (in South African terms) at the West Coast. We are looking to help these vineyards produce at the top of their ability once more, and help preserve this wonderful vineyards. The cultivars are Palomino (55+ years old), Barbarossa (80 years old) and some Muscat d'Alexandrie (90 years and 40 years old).

I would just like to post a few photos of these. I think having these old vines are amazing. You don't see vines of this age every day. The oldest vines we currently have is Chenin blanc (42 years), Cincaut (56 years), Pinotage (36 years) and Grenache noir (35 years).

Barbarossa

Muscat d'Alexandrie

Palomino

The Last Straw!

Using straw (Hay) as an alternative ground cover is catching on in the Darling area. The producers have seen the significant effect on soil temperature, soil health and soil moisture retention.

In the beginning of this year, a camera crew from Denmark was filming a short piece in one of our vineyards that had Hay as a ground cover. This particular day was extremely hot. One of the guys had a laser thermometer. He pointed it on top of the Hay - 45 degrees Celsius. We lifted the 15cm thick cover and pointed it directly on the soil surface - 33 degrees Celsius. Massive difference and the soil felt cool and still had some moisture in.

Another interesting thing about using Hay as a ground cover, is the fact that Hay has a fairly large population of Protozoa in it. Earthworms also feed on these micro creatures, thus creating a even better environment for these guys.

The organic matter in the soil increased dramatically over two years. A hard, dry compact soil was transformed into a cool, moist soil with an ideal granular structure. The water holding capacity of the soil is also increased, which is crucial in a dry land area like ours.

There are many more pro's to using Hay, and it by far outweighs the con's, which is fire hazard. But, managed properly, this can be avoided or controlled.

Final Pruning

We started with the final stage of pruning last week, called "Stompsnoei" in Afrikaans. The initial pruning phase is called "Skoonsnoei", and involves cutting away all unwanted shoots. Only the bearer shoots are then left.

Then, as close to budding as possible, the remaining shoots are pruned to their desired length. We aim for two eyes per shoot. This is the crucial pruning phase, as this determine the yield. We aim for 6 to 8 tonnes per hectare, so having more budding eyes puts this in jeopardy and just makes suckering harder.

I'm just a little worried about the weather. We are having unusually long spells of temperatures in the mid twenties and this could result in a early budding season. Not preferable seeing that we expect some rains to come late in the season again. We prune our vines back to two eyes. This is how things looks now