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New growth in the Seven Springs vineyard

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 News from Riana and Hetta from our vineyard, November 2013.

 

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Preparation for our 2014 harvest started in October 2012! At that time buds formed on the branches that were to carry the fruit for the 2013 harvest and, through the pruning that followed the harvest, during the winter of 2013, these two-bud spurs were left to develop and nurture the fruit for the 2014 harvest.  
 
This means that as early as last month, October 2013, nature was influencing the quality and quantity of the 2015 harvest.  It was rainy, cloudy and humid – not ideal conditions, as it is a sunny period at this time that will contribute to a fruitful harvest.  We’ll just have to wait and see what Mother Nature has in store for us.
 
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Our Pinot Noir grapes, the first to be harvested each year, are looking beautiful!   The vines have started to flower along with the Chardonnay.
 
 
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The Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc usually start flowering a little later.

 

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I love the vineyards in spring, they have the most amazing green foliage.

 

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Seven Springs Harvest 2012

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    Valentine’s Day? Yes, but also and most important, harvest time at 7 Springs                  Vineyard, where our grapes get tender loving care, as you would treat your                  Valentine!

We have 4 Pinot Noir clones of which two were harvested today, clones 667 and 777. These two will give the fresh fruit component to the wine.

 

Clones 459 and 115 will be picked as and when they reach their full ripeness and they will make out the structural component to our Pinot Noir.

                                Everybody ready for action!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Pinot Noir vines are now in their 4th year,  still very young, and as a result the volumes are still small, so the grapes harvested today will ferment together in the same tank.

Some experienced hands working here, good care is taken not to squash any grapes!

 

 

Our grape pickers enjoy what they are doing and they have a real passion for this job!

                            

Another perfect bunch!

The grapes are transported to the winery in the same crates they were gently harvested into. The gentler the grapes get handled the less breakage there is of the berries. This way we make sure we get the best results from our wonderful grapes.

 

Watch this space and see how our grapes transform into wine!

Seven Springs Vineyard Syrah harvested

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Our Syrah was picked on Monday the 8th of March and the temperature reached a high of 38.9 degrees centigrade, phew, one of the highest temperatures recorded in the valley in recent years. The grapes look an excellent quality and the analysis today will determine the exact quality. Our winemaker Riana said ” I was really impressed with the quality of the grapes and my heartfelt thanks go to all the pickers who worked wonders getting the grapes in. I am also very happy with our Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay which are ‘gurgling’ away nicely in their fermentation tanks. Time will tell, but for our first harvest I am cautiously optomistic of some excellent wines being made”.

Owner  Tim Pearson commented  ” I can only echo Riana’s comments about the pickers and would like to thank Riana for her input. If the wine turns out as good as the effort that Riana has put into this we will have some top wines here. My thanks also go to Peter Davison, our vineyard manager, who has done an exceptional job getting the grapes to this stage”. The stage is now set for Riana to show us what she can do in the winery. Watch this space.