We’ve experienced two very hot weeks, leading up to harvest, with temperatures reaching upward of 40ºC. This made things a little challenging with ripening, seeing that the sugars reached the levels at which we would normally pick them, but with the fruit not being phenolically not ripe yet. 

We are luckily in a position where we have ample water for irrigation, due to the generous rains we had during the past winter. This allows us to slightly delay the picking by watering the vineyards and achieving better ripeness before bringing the grapes into the cellar. 

This far we’ve harvested two blocks of Pinotage, with tonnages measured to be on par with those of last year. We’ve also harvested some Viognier, with similar yields to the 2023 harvest. Overall, we’ve identified that the quality is looking good, with no diseases or pests identified in the vineyards. 

We’re looking forward to, hopefully, some cooler weather in the next couple of weeks of the harvest. It’s still early days, as we’ve only just wrapped up the first week of harvest, but we are very excited about the wines that 2024 will deliver.