.: Pruning and planting vines in the Vineyard Hotel's vineyard

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Pruning and planting vines in the Vineyard Hotel's vineyard

Twice a year, or more, we are invited to come and tend the vine of which we have been made custodians in the Vineyard Hotel’s small vineyard. This is the time of year when we go to prune our vine (and others whose owners cannot attend) and each year we learn a little more of this art from very skilled people. Last Saturday, we pruned and then we were delighted to help them plant up a new small vineyard of Chardonnay, on a newly acquired property alongside the current vineyard. We were rewarded with a really lovely lunch and some special wines made by the vineyards that sponsor the vine rows

Meeting early on Saturday morning next to the Liesbeek River for a glass of Bubbly

Kitty, the matriarch of the Petousis family who own the Vineyard Hotel. She has just celebrated her 91st birthday, on the 17th of August. Kitty bought the riverside property next to the Vineyard hotel, where the new vineyard is planted

We were given a lesson in pruning from the Farm Manager of Warwick, Ronald Spies

Mike Bampfield Duggan of Wine Concepts puts the lesson into practice

Kitty's son and MD of the Vineyard George Petousis

Eddie Turner of Meerlust shows his pruning skills to Mike Bampfield Duggan

Everyone putting the lessons into practice

Wendy Masters of the Phoenix Partnership, who handle the Vineyard Hotel’s PR, with her daughter Holly

The three rows at the front are Sauvignon Blanc, the two rows on the back terrace are Semillon

The Ford vine successfully pruned by Lynne. We hope for a good harvest this El Nino year

One of our other teachers is Kevin Arnold of Waterford wines; they sponsor one of the rows

You take off all of the old vine stems, except one strong two year old stem and cut that off just above two buds. You also try to leave one small bud on the same junction which will provide the branch for the following year

A break for some Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel MCC - another sponsor of a row

Finishing off, all is neat and tidy and we now must wait for the buds to break when the weather becomes warmer

The new vineyard. The holes have been dug for the new vines, but we need a lesson in how to best plant them

Pruning over for this year, Ronald shows us the new Chardonnay vines we will be planting and the roots

The vine roots have been trimmed

Spread out the roots and cover with some soil then using a fork, (never a spade, it makes the sides of the hole too firm and the roots wont break through), pull in some soil from around the hole and plant the vine securely. You do need someone to hold the vine straight. Restaurant manager David Wibberley holds it tight. The graft must be well above the soil

Then tamp the soil around the vine down with your foot

Kevin Arnold christens the first Chardonnay vine planted with some Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel

It's in place and hopefully we will see good growth

It’s mucky work planting vines

Lynne planted this one

John planted one next to it. We chose the top terrace next to the wall for it to get the maximum light and perhaps some reflected warmth from the wall

And then it was time for lunch. On the buffet, an Asian style prawn salad

Blanched broccoli spears, with feta and raw almonds

Artichokes, roasted pepperoni (red peppers), anchovies, fresh basil and croutons

Two great ladies: winemaker Norma Ratcliffe of Warwick (another sponsor) with Kitty Petousis

On the braai: grilled salmon

Butterflied lamb seared to perfection

The chef, Shane Louw, grilling next to the pool. There was also pork belly and good steak

We drank a selection of special Sponsors’ wines with lunch; some vintage, some current releases

Holly needing a nap? or some exercise

Having a lovely time

Kevin Arnold, Eddie Turner and Roy Davis introduce the four Vineyard vintages made so far for us to taste. 2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015

And we all tasted them. Each vintage is quite different from the others. The first one made from a very small quantity of grapes, from the first harvest in 2012, was pressed by foot and wine writer Neil Pendock who helped and has his own vine, christened it the Toe Jam wine. It has matured. The 2013 is resting. The 2014 is probably at its peak and was nice and crisp and lively. The 2015 is nervous and has still to come into its own, having just been bottled, but looks very interesting. It will be a few years before we can add the Chardonnay to the blend. It takes a while for the vines to mature and produce good grapes for wine