January finds Oldenburg Vineyards already in full swing. While the turn of the year naturally invites a look back at 2025’s highlights, the vineyards are asking different questions. Veraison began in late December, earlier than in previous vintages, and progressed quickly. The first parcels of golden Chardonnay grapes were harvested by mid-January. This is the moment everything comes together: the quiet work in the soil, the careful decisions for each vine, and the patience of past seasons made tangible in the fruit.
Transitioning from 2025 to 2026, we feel a renewed sense of purpose in how we farm and think about Rondekop. Our commitment to regenerative viticulture continues to deepen. With each season, nature plays a more visible role on the farm. The more we trust these natural processes, the more confident we become. Oldenburg’s wines will express their intrinsic character when the fundamentals are right and the vineyards are given time to speak clearly. It is a relationship that feels less like management and more like a long conversation with this place.
This harvest carries a particular energy because several young Chardonnay blocks are being harvested for the first time. These parcels, planted on cooler, carefully chosen slopes and farmed regeneratively from their first day, are now beginning to reveal their character. In the vineyard, Christo moves between the rows with his refractometer—measuring sugar, weighing berries, and listening to what the vines tell him. Then comes the most important test of all: tasting the grapes with Nic, and together they formulate their thoughts on ripeness and picking times.
With select young blocks in production, our precision viticulture must be spot-on. Young vines can outpace their developing leaves, producing more grapes than the vine can ripen. The vineyard team knows this and focuses on balance. Green harvesting is crucial. By removing a portion of the bunches, the team helps the remaining fruit ripen evenly. This is more demanding than it sounds. Christo often encourages the team to drop more fruit than they find comfortable; no one enjoys seeing healthy bunches on the soil. Yet this discipline is vital for the future. Every cluster left on the vine has a purpose, guided by the canopy and its ripening potential. Accepting a little less today allows these young blocks the time to reach their full expression in the years to come. In this way, the vineyard becomes less of a production unit and more of a carefully tended garden, where each plant is given the space needed to thrive.
In the cellar, Nic follows the same philosophy of attentive restraint. Each parcel ferments with its own native yeasts, carrying the microbial fingerprint of its site. Oak comes from coopers who share our respect for forest and farm.
All decisions pass through a simple filter: Does this serve the whole? Nic and I discuss keeping certain Chardonnay parcels separate. We may release a special series of wines from these maiden blocks if their quality and individuality merit it.
Nothing is decided yet, and that uncertainty adds to the excitement. For now, we are content to listen, block by block, as this new voice in the Oldenburg Vineyards chorus begins to introduce itself. The aim is not to impose a style but to let the wines find their own natural voice.
We invite you to join us on this journey—whether by visiting, tasting, or simply following our progress—to witness firsthand how everything is coming together. Here on Rondekop, nature leads, and we do our best to keep pace.
Adrian Vanderspuy
Proprietor, Oldenburg Vineyards