Winter is here!!!

YES, it is cold, the North-West is blowing and the cold fronts keep coming! I know it is actually almost mid winter, but the rain came a bit later than expected. Not so nice to work in the vineyards, but good for the field and the vines. A beautiful winters day in Darling. Just a bit of snow visible on the mountains towards Tulbagh.

What's happening

So the purpose of this blog was to show you (the readers) what we do in the vineyards. I kinda drifted away from that... So I'm back on track!

We are currently just busy with the first phase of winter pruning. We are giving form to the vines and determining the yield to some extent of 2012. Today it is cold (11⁰C), the North West wind is pumping at about 27km/h, and it is raining. This morning 15mm of rain fell in less than an hour. It is not ideal, but at least we are getting some rain. So how does things look in the vineyards now? Well, like this

Winter Panoramics

I am a big fan of panoramic photos. There are just something intriguing about them. I would like to get a wide angle lens one day, but for now the panoramic software will have to do. Here is just three shots of the vineyards. The quality isn't what the originals was, but I have to shrink them to upload them, but I still think it is an awesome way to portray vineyards. Maybe I should do so more often..

(Please click on the images to enlarge)

To the left, Ruby Cabernet, To the right, Shiraz

Pinotage

Ruby Cabernet

Noble and sweets

Last night was another wonderful Darling Wine Tasting, hosted by our white wine maker - Welma Visser, at Darling Cellars. The header of this post says it all - it was sweet. (no pun intended) Welma had in her arsenal an array of wonderful wines, from all across the globe.

The tasting started off by the fireplace, where everyone was welcomed with a glass of Darling Cellars MCC Brut. It was cold, so the fire was very nice (except for Clement - he is from Switzerland and doesn't feel our South African cold).

After the pre-drinks we went in and the tasting started.

This was a blind tasting, but I will just name the wine tasted in order.

1. Noble Late Harvest - Heggies, Australia (2006)
2. Noble Late Harvest - Fleur de Cap, South Africa (2006)
3. Noble Late Harvest - Chateau Guiraud Sauternes, France (2006)
4. Noble Late Harvest - Darling Cellars, South Africa (2009)
5. Straw Wine - Tierhoek, South Africa (2006)
6. Straw Wine - Bindella Dolce Sinfonia, Italy (2006)
7. Straw Wine - Mullineux, South Africa (2010)
8. Frozen Eiswein - Yarden, Israel (2005)
9. Eiswein - Roll, Germany (2004)