Sowing Cover Crops

After some much needed rain, the soil isn't as rock hard and it gave the producers a gap to plant the cover crops. In a couple of weeks I'll show you how these grains grow and look, but for now I just want to show you how the seeds look. If you look at the picture, you will see the grain seeds, and the white pellets are a chemical form of nitrogen to assist the cover crop in rapid growth to have as much fiber as possible in the end.

There are several methods to sow the cover crop. You can do it by hand, by means of a planter (like in the pictures below) or by means of a fertilizer spreader. On terrains with a big percentage of larger rocks, it is sometimes impossible to use a planter or spreader and sowing by hand is the only way. Your covering will not be as good as with the other two due to no seedbed preparation, but it is still worth it to get some organic material onto the soil.

Happy Easter

I would like to say Happy Easter to everyone, and may you be blessed.

Also, I would like to write a bit about Easter. Sometimes Easter gets treated like Christmas, but this time there is no Santa, but chocolate bunnies.

People tend to forget the significance of this great event. This is the weekend where Jesus Christ was crucified, but more importantly He rose from the dead on the third day, and lives. He died on the cross as a sacrifice for the whole world. Not just Christians, but the whole world. He is the holy lamb, the perfect sacrifice so that God forgave us our sins. It is written in Hebrews 8 verse 12: "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." Also in Romans 11 verse 27 :"And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins."And in Hebrews 10 verse 11: "Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."

These words mean that He has forgiven ALL our sins, and He does not think about it anymore. It does not exist in His realm. Isn't that amazing!! Our God truly is amazing! Thank you Father.

I leave you with the following lyrics from Chris Tomlin - Indescribable

From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night
None can fathom

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God
You are amazing God

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God
Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
Incomparable, unchangeable
You see the depths of my heart and You love me the same
You are amazing God
You are amazing God


Christ on the Cross, by Jan van Boeck

Darling Wine Group Tasting

We have a bi-quarterly wine tasting group here in Darling. The group consists of about 20 people, which includes winemakers, marketers, wine merchants, wine lovers, a Scotsman, an Irish chap (with no disrespect to either of these brilliant guys) , a visiting Swiss, viticulturists, producers and wine enthusiasts.

The tastings differ. Each time a member of the group has the chance to do a tasting he or she thinks the group would really enjoy. We've had some fabulous wines in the past, ranging from all over the globe.

This time members could bring a wine they thought was interesting or deemed really good by them. It was a blind tasting where you must guess the origin and vintage.

Some really interesting wines were tasted, some, or should I say one, bordered on the bizarre, some really bold, some not so good and some brilliant.

The wines ranged from Argentina, South Africa, France, Hawaii and Australia.






I wont be discussing the wines, this is merely to showcase a very entertaining and fabulous evening, shared with friends, colleagues and fellow wine lovers. A very special thanks goes out to our host, Charles Withington, for his hospitality, and his wife who made the best food I've had this year!

The wines in tasted order:

1. FAIRVIEW Weisser Riesling 2009

2. LOMOND Sauvignon Blanc 2007

3. MRS KIRSTEN Chenin blanc 2007

4. CREDO GROENKLOOF Sauvignon Blanc 2002

5. BOUCHARD FINLAYSON – Missionvale Chardonnay 2006

6. VOLCANO RED - “Pele’s Delight” – Volcano Winery Hawaii

7. EVANS & TATE Cabernet Merlot 2005 – Margaret River – Australia

8. DOMAINE DE NIZAS Le Mas 2002 – Salleles France

9. LE RICHE – Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2001

10. CHATEAU LAVILLE BERTROU 2008 – La Liviniere France

11. VERGENOEGD – Estate Wine 2001

12. TEMPUS Temperanillo 2005 - Mendoza Argentina

I will however point out my best two wines of the evening, the VERGENOEGD – Estate Wine 2001 and the LE RICHE – Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2001. Great wines.

What happens after harvest?

A question often left out of discussion, but one of the most important phases in a vineyards annual cycle.

So, what does happen in the vineyards after harvest?

The answer is simple - a lot.

After the bunches has been harvested the vines continues the process of photosynthesis, but instead of transporting the carbohydrates towards the bunches, it gets stored in the root system and the trunk. A grape leaf will only contribute approximately 90 days of its photosynthetic cycle towards growth and berry ripening, where after it will change its trans location from upwards to downwards, in other words towards the roots.

So in basic terms the vine stores food and water for the next season. This is why after harvest fertilizing and irrigation is so important. Having water available is a massive advantage, but here at Darling Cellars we have approximately 95% dryland bush vine. We are completely dependent on the weather. We now wait for the first decent winter rains before we can fertilize, otherwise the fertilizer would be wasted as it can not get flushed into the soil.

When the conditions no longer favour nutrient uptake or the plant is saturated, the chlorophyll in the leaves start to break down and the leaves turn yellow. When leaves turn red it is either due to Leaf Roll ( a virus, but only shows red leaves on Red grape cultivars), or it is Teinturier grapes.

Leaf Roll Virus

A lot of other chemical processes are happening as well, but none that I can explain in a single blog entry. Maybe another time.

Last load of 2011

That's it. Done. Finished! The last load of grapes for 2011, Petit Verdot. Came in brilliantly. Healthy grapes, good pH and acid. Now the heavens just need to open and give us some rain.

It was a dry harvest, but not as bad as I thought. In fact, it was a rather good harvest. Now we can start working towards the 2012 harvest.

Composting

I started making compost in 2009. I use all the grape skins, pips and stems. So basically I recycle the waste product of the wine making process.

In 2009 I only made 100 cubic meters, just an experiment. It went very well, but there were still lots to learn. Last year I made 550 cubic meters. That went even better and I learned some valuable lessons. One of them were that the stems makes handling very difficult. It also causes the compost heaps to dry out too rapidly due to too much aeration.



So the stems are left untouched for at least a year so the the UV can break it apart a bit. This makes it brittle and it manages better the next year. The stems are an important ingredient in the mixture because it helps with the longevity of the product.

This post does NOT relate to static composting, which is a whole different story.

The key factors involved in making good quality compost are moisture, aeration, pH and C:N ratio. The micro organisms (MO) struggle to function at low pH. The grape skins naturally have low pH, and this gets adjusted by adding Calsitic lime to lift the pH to 6.5. They also need Nitrogen as "fuel", so that's why you need to add a food source like chicken manure (or any manure).

The MO also need moisture to function, and obviously air (oxygen). If you don't aerate the heaps they become anaerobic and will start to smell bad. Compost should never smell bad. Bad smell = bad compost.

I try to turn the compost every second day, but it is turned mainly according to the temperature readings. You need the temperature for the first week and a half in the 70 degrees Celsius region. This sterilizes the compost and kills off nasty pathogens and weeds.



After this fermentation phase the temperature comes down to the mid 40's, and will more or less stay in that region. (unless you get a lot of water on the heap, like you can see in the graph where it rained)




The process takes about 10 weeks.

In the cellar

Things are starting to slow down now. We are nearing the end of the 2011 harvest. It was a difficult harvest. Very dry and very hot. But the wines are looking good and as you can see the winemakers are quite optimistic about it.

Here are a few photos of processes in the cellar.

Hydrolic valves - used to open and close channels.

Fermenters

The cellar workers

Hopefully the next post will have some more text in. I am a visual guy, so the photos are satisfying. If there is anything specific you would like to see, drop me an email. Cheers for now