Armed with scissors and baskets, the vineyard team of Doolhof Wine Estate stood ready for first light to begin harvesting the first grapes of the 2011 pressing season. We wanted the grapes to be as cool as possible.
We began harvesting with Sauvignon Blanc against the foothills of the Groenberg. This cool vineyard yeilds around 20 tons, all the grapes destined to be part of the Signatures of Doolhof Sauvignon Blanc.
The heat wave at the end of January, didn’t do much harm, as this vineyard is well protected with a nice green cover of leaves. Some shrivelled fruit was present but was removed at the sorting table.
Doolhof’s Sauvignon Blanc block is divided into four equal parts. We wanted the last grapes at the cellar before 10:00 am, to preserve colour, aroma and flavours. I added a lot of dry ice at the crusher and all the way to the settling tank, to keep oxygen out, thus making a delicate, fresh, aromatic white wine.
Very cool settling of up to four days was done to have crystal clear juice to ferment. Aromas of figs and freshly cut grass were evident from early on. We will ferment four different tanks with different yeasts that will add complexity to the final wine. The wine will be aged on the lees before being bottled, around August 2011.
This special effort, as well as painstaking attention to detail, is the reason for the numerous awards received by the Signatures of Doolhof Sauvignon Blanc.
Harvesting will continue up to mid-March.
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