Spring continues apace, and as we transitioned from September to October, a few warmer days set everything into hyperdrive – the entire farm was ablaze in fluorescent shades of lime green – a truly spectacular sight! With the farm now fully planted, the vineyard team, with their unwavering dedication, is racing to keep ahead of the relentless growth; in fact, a few weekend sessions were required to keep on top of suckering – the early removal of unwanted leaf and shoot growth on our canopies. Rondekop has rarely looked so beautiful, as our cover crops – in some cases about two metres high – add to the green glow. The view from The Tasting Room displays the fynbos garden, currently graced with golden flowers, spring has sprung, and it is stunning!
On one of my morning walks around Rondekop, I met Christo, who broke the news of budding issues with some of the vineyard blocks, caused by last year’s wind. The intense winds, particularly on the new south side Syrah block, had caused the vines to produce tendrils where there should have been bunches. On the bunches, they were missing what we call ‘shoulders’, making them much smaller than they should be. After some research, I discovered that this was a process called Thigmomorphogenesis – which refers to the response of the vine to mechanical stimuli, such as wind and leads to changes in the growth pattern of the plant. In this case, an adaptation to form tendrils that may help it latch on to something to steady the vine in the wind. This was a new one for me, and when I explained to Vanessa that the crop would be dramatically reduced, her response was, “Well, this is farming!” – indeed! Certainly fascinating.
On an exciting note, Nic has been finalising the 2023 vintage red wines, which require several months of tasting and blending experimentation. He is now readying the final blends for bottling. After sampling each of them with him, it is clear we will produce some excellent wines; they will be bottled in late November then rest quietly in our cellar for a few years before release. Over the past few months, we have been conducting an En Primeur release of the Una V, Rondekop, Chardonnay 2023. Its official release will be on the 1st of November in The Tasting Room. Una V is a unique wine that carries my late grandmother’s name. She played a role in the Oldenburg Vineyards’ story for many reasons, primarily, her inspiration to treat our vineyards as a garden and each vine as an element of that garden. We will share more about this in a future Teleview post.
I am genuinely fascinated by how Nature works, and witnessing its ability to adapt up close is a great pleasure. I have learnt that ‘rolling with it’ takes you to better places – hard to describe but exciting and satisfying. Bringing it back to the wines, they encapsulate what Nature does best. We have influence and custodianship, but it is Nature that we must thank.
