2010 Harvest Report Karusa Wines
Let me illustrate the 2010 harvest at Karusa with a picture (worth more than a 1000 words!!):
(Winemaker Jacques Conradie and Estate Manager Theo Landman taking a break...)
With the first harvest in our winery as expected some teething problems are bound to happen. Its been exciting and frustrating at the same time and when the natural elements also start turning against you..brace yourself!
What started out as a very normal season on the 17 th of January with the harvest of our Chardonnay base wine for our 2010 Prestige Cuvee Blanc de Blancs turned out pretty challenging at the end. The exceptional hot days (1 or 2 above 45 degrees and a lot above 40 degrees!) and the continual drought in the Southern Cape combined to really put our vines under tremendous stress. With metabolic reactions shutting down above 35 degrees the trick was to decide when to harvest-the decision was made: the earlier the better.
With a dry veld and swarms of birds it was a question of cutting our losses and get the fruits into the winery...and this is were the fun started!
Starting up a winery is not for the faint hearted and with a few antiques as equipment we had our "boer maak 'n plan" innovations tested to the limit. As the picture indicates with our WAP 400 vacuum suction machine on the 1974 Willemess press the only relief came from a quick ice cold pint of lager!
When everything eventually ran as smooth as an age old Petrus...there were no more grapes! The harvest ended as quickly as it started. Volumes have been drastically affected but like anything in life were you loose some on one side you will gain some on the other.
Quality on our Shiraz and Pinotage looks exceptionally promising- dense dark and delicious wines with loads of dark berry fruit and ripe black cherry flavours with subtle but structured tannins. White wines are extremely aromatic (escpecially our 2010 Sauvignon Blanc/Chenin Blanc - bottled on the 29th of March) with Viognier once again showing its adaptive nature towards our warm continentally influenced climate. Rich opulent spice and yellow sundried fruit...mouthwatering!
Making wine in the Klein Karoo is not for sissies -taking my hat of to all whom have taken this less trodden path to make wines that truly reflect its origin with a sense of place.
We will be releasing the new vintage wines in the week of 26 April (Rose , Sauvignon Blanc , Viognier and 2009 Pinotage) and also a Red Muscadel for the cold winter ahead.
Until our next news release remember: Support local , Think Karoo and Drink Karusa!!
Our tasting facility and Karoo Tapas Restaurant is open:
Mon-Fri: 09:30 to 16:00 and Saturdays : 10:00 to 14:30.
Winter promotion May to August: Relax at our cosy fire place with "Soetes & Sop" and fresh ciabata bread at only R50 per person.
For further information contact: Saretha @ 044-272 8717 or saretha@karusa.co.za
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