The 2014 harvest was preceded by a very cold and wet winter. There was a hint of an early spring in August before the last extremely cold and wet spell of winter hit the Cape. We even had snow on Table Mountain on the 22nd of September. All of this ensured even budding, and also even flowering, veraison and more importantly, even ripening.
Spring proved to be a bit of a nightmare. We had 85 mm of rain in September, 50 mm in October and 170 mm in November. These wet conditions posed a big mildew threat, along with the fact that it was nearly impossible to access the lower lying vineyards with tractors. We had a bit of a break with favourable conditions in December, but another 30 mm of rain in January put the pressure right back on the vineyard team. February was reliable warm and dry, before another 114 mm rain in March and 67 mm in April made the logistics really difficult again.
Taking all the above into account, it is nothing short of a miracle that we’re nearly 11% up on our conservative crop estimate. We have to give credit to our vineyard manager Floricius and his team: the grapes that arrived at the cellar were of impeccable quality. They worked really hard to produce excellent grapes under really difficult conditions. At a very early stage we are very happy with the 2014 harvest.
The overall quality of the wines are looking really good and all bets are on that 2014 will be a white wine year with some great Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay on the cards.
