It’s been a busy August on the farm. Often one thinks winter is ‘down time’ when the vines slumber, the wine rests quietly in new barrels, and (to quote an old friend) – “jobs right – cool bananas!” – (whatever that means)?!? Not this farm, though. The vineyards have been pruned and new vineyards planted. New fynbos additions have been made. New Pecan tree orchards have been planted. Barrels have been rolled, with ongoing ferments being massaged along, and even The Tasting Room has been full – busy days.
At some point, I was chatting to Christo about this year’s pruning, and he commented that the ladies had again stepped up in their execution this year. He thinks their understanding and precision is superb, particularly given the vast array of trellising methods we now employ, as well as the fact we have a bunch of newly developing vineyards, which means getting things done correctly is crucial. After all, the structure we give the young vines now will be their foundation for the decades ahead. He said they (the ladies) made him “proud in the heart” – that the passion, precision and pride in their work was just brilliant.
Who are The Ladies? Over the years, we have found that by creating a small team of ladies for the viticultural work, we have managed to improve the quality of execution enormously. The team has a minimum of three ladies but can, at times, be six. They deal with all vine interventions, from suckering to pruning, shoot and bunch thinning, and young vine cultivation. They receive enormous training input from Christo on a daily basis, and from outside consultants anually. Their job is challenging – requiring hands-on precision work, with each vine presenting a slight variation and, therefore, requiring a slightly different solution. However, we have discovered that the more the team understood the end benefits of achieving quality through their actions, the more motivated they became, and the more motivated, the better their execution—a virtuous circle. The ladies have become vineyard specialists. They are better compensated as such.
A cornerstone of our mission is to Make a Difference to the people working on the farm. This means creating rewarding working conditions. It is not easy, but we do believe that if we can increase the quality of whatever we do, we can ultimately achieve a higher price – and a higher price can ensure that those creating the quality can be compensated for their work – in the farming world this fundamental problem exists for all – we can only play a small part in doing a better job, but that, at least, does Make a Difference and in the end, changes lives for the better.
In this month’s ReView, we look at our Joshua Syrah. Named because our first-ever harvest in 2007 fell on our son Joshua’s birthday. As a young child, unable to read, I saw Josh flicking through a Decanter Magazine, pointing to any wine with a similar black label and telling a friend, “That’s my wine” – very cute! It is a one-of-a-kind wine. Stefan recently decided to add it to the list for one of our Wine Club dinners – lots of great appreciation and feedback.
This is the time of year when the fynbos flowers. The Cape attracts visitors from all over to see its spectacular blooms. The Tasting Room fynbos garden adds to our dramatic views and combined with the other fynbos corridors on the farm, provides a haven for bees. Keep a look out, as we will soon be releasing our very own Fynbos Honey – watch this space.
We are still watching a few barrels slowly go through fermentation in the cellar. Nic’s use of natural ferments means we must be super-patient and perhaps do a little praying on the side for no ‘unnatural’ inoculations to be found – from the farm, the vineyards, and the vine.
In September, we all are travelling. Nic will go through Europe, with events in Belgium, Holland and the UK. Thys and Stefan will also visit customers in some European markets. Vanessa and I will host an inaugural dinner in Copenhagen to celebrate our new agency and wines in Denmark.
In our 20th anniversary year, I am proud of where we have gone – it has been challenging – this is a tough, hyper-competitive industry. Wine takes time, hard work, and uber-patience. On Reflection, what brings real happiness is that we have team members, such as the ladies, who now smile when they work and are proud of what they do and can achieve. It may sound like a small thing to some – it is, however, not.