Riesling

In addition to the sorting of grapes while they are on the vine, a second stage of bunch and berry sorting occurs at the cellar to eliminate all traces of rot. After the grapes are pressed and the juice settled, the juice is fermented using selected yeast cultures. Grapes from different block on the estate are fermented separately and 44% of the wine is fermented in large 2500L oval oak vats. By lowering the temperatures of the vessels, fermentation was stopped on a portion of the wine - this segment being blended back later to give the Riesling its natural off-dry fruitiness. The rest of the wine is fermented dry and left on the fine lees which helps to add complexity. The wine is blended and stabilized in preparation for bottling.

After a cold winter with good, replenishing rainfall our vineyards experienced superb growing conditions in the lead up to the 2023 harvest. The moderate day temperatures and cool nights of spring and early summer were ideal for the development of diverse flavours in the grapes as well as retaining high natural acidities. The Riesling grapes was harvested from the 24th of February till the 13th of March, with the grapes being between 20-21.7 ° Brix. Most of the grapes for this vintage came from the 14-year and 36-year-old Riesling blocks with a small percentage from other vineyard sites. The soil in the older block varies from a ‘ferricrete’ top layer (surficial sand and gravel masses) set on decomposed Bokkeveld Shale and/or light clay. The younger blocks are also on duplex soils, but these are dominated by shale. The average gradient is 1:7 and height above sea level is 300 meters. As with all our vineyards, the Riesling blocks are subjected to regenerative farming practices with great attention being paid to soil health. This involves strategic planting of diverse cover-crops amidst the vines to aid in replenishing carbon in the soil and facilitating the conversion of unavailable Nitrogen into a form that the vines can use. For the Riesling vineyards our pruning schedules have been brought forward as it has been found that earlier pruning of this variety ensures maximum varietal expression in the final wines.