Tuesday, February 21, 2023

2023 Harvest Lunch at Jordan

Each harvest, Gary and Kathy Jordan invite members of the media and the wine trade to visit them,
and hear about this year's harvest 
We were so pleased to hear from both Cathy and Gary about the past year and taste some of the results

Welcomed by Kathy Jordan and marketing manager Thea van der Merwe

with a glass of their lovely elegant, crisp and clean 2017 Blanc de Blancs Cap Classique

Gary Jordan chatting to Andre Morgenthal, who runs the Old Vine Project
Jordan has some vineyards that will join the project within the next year

Also there were Christian Eedes, editor of Winemag.co.za, Wine negociant John Collins and Susan Scholtz

Louis-Delien and Deon Pienaar, owners of The Cattle Baron in Durbanville

Gary begins his harvest report
Vinpro reports that this is the fourth smallest in the last few years because of load shedding and environmental problems
Peter Ferreira at Graham Beck reports that some vineyards and growers are 30 to 40% down
It was not a cold winter in 2022 and there was less rainfall, so all reserves are low
There were two phases of budding this vintage, so two harvests of some vineyards may be necessary
Early flowering with bad winds lowered the crop and made it difficult to spray
Unseasonable rain in December brought in fungal disease and powdery mildew

Heat peaks and dry sunburn were also an issue. Assyrtiko is not irrigated
From April 1 2022 we had 443 ml of rain; the average is 720 ml
In Santorini, where Assyrtiko grows, they average only 249 ml, so it is suited to our climate
The Jordans are clearing hillside vineyards to grow more Assyrtiko
with Chardonnay and Cabernet in cooler areas on the farm
From September 1st till now we have had heat waves

A bunch of ripe Assyrtiko grapes for us to taste. You can definitely taste the characteristics that appear in the wine
Some Assyrtiko is grown on trellis, some as bush vine and they will be beginning the traditional Santorini basket training,
now that the vines are well established

And then a taste of the Assyrtiko, a grape indigenous to parts of Greece with very dry conditions

It seems to be ideally suited to our warming climate
On the nose, crisp fruit with fig notes, lovely minerality, clean dry fruit with great acidity,
complexity and warmth on the palate with gooseberries, fig and greengage plum flavour
So refreshing and such a good wine with food, especially if it is Mediterranean in style

Kathy told us about their harvest at their Mousehall winery in East Sussex in England and reported on their new gin
Their daughter Christie is the distiller and, they have made their Oast House into the distillery
They have the maiden vintage of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in barrel on Mousehall
It will be bottled when they go back
Twelve people helped them with the picking, nine were South Africans, some were friends!
Since Brexit, it is very hard to get labour to pick grapes in the UK
They used third fill barrels sent from Stellenbosch
The gin is aging in barrels as is a Brandy from the previous vintage

The well-designed packaging for the Mousehall Gin is all recyclable

Even the bottle has been made from recycled glass
They have a 400 litre copper Pot still at Mousehall for their artisanal gin
It contains 13 different botanicals and aromatics like juniper, angelica, orris root, coriander, rooibos, lavender,
citrus distillation character and aromatics like cardamom
It is 40% proof, as required by British law. South African Gin has to be 43%

We then went into the cellar to taste the grapes, the unfermented juice and then some tank samples, which were busy fermenting
It is a very good learning experience
As you taste, you can see the progression of what the grapes’ development, if they are properly handled
And these certainly are

This year’s international crew of interns helping with the harvest

Winemaker Sjaak Nelson supervising the harvest

Gary Jordan and GM Jacques Steyn CWM

The Sauvignon Blanc juice was pure Northern climate elderflower perfume and flavour with fabulous fruit sweetness and perfume
When yeast is added, the ferment will mix and refine the juice into wine
The yeasty base wine for the Blanc de Blancs is floral, crisp and dry with lots of fruit notes
The cylinder of juice where the solids have sunk to the bottom is from an amphora

The tank Chenin Blanc has 160 grams per litre of sugar before fermentation;
the flavour is full of fig leaves and fruit, pétillant on the palate with sweet nectarine and peach
A tasting like this is so valuable, as it shows the journey the grapes are taking to become wine
Finding the aromas and tastes and making sure we spit out the fermenting juice into the buckets;
it can set off fermentation in one’s own system

We tasted the barrel fermented Outlier Sauvignon Blanc which is clean and dry; complex with richness from the lees and autolysis
It is such a good food wine; we often order it when we are eating out
The 2022 Inspector Peringuey Chenin Blanc was summer fruit in a glass with guava and naartjie on the nose,
sweet golden fruit with a lovely dry finish on the palate, well balanced with good acidity and some chalky tannins


Sjaak told us about the fermenting samples

A portion of yeast ready to go into a tank to begin the fermentation of the grape juice

Ripe and sweet Chenin Blanc grapes ready for picking. Tannic skin and green pips all add to the complexity of the wine

Down the steep stairs into another area of fermentation tanks, amphorae and concrete eggs,
all adding complexity to wine making these days

And we were shown the clay amphora from Italy, which has Sauvignon Blanc in it,
which will become The Outlier for the third year
You can feel the fermentation vibration when you touch the sides
They told us the best thing ever is the Shiraz they ferment in the amphora, which is then blended with the Syrah in barrel

This clever glass fermentation airlock allows the carbon dioxide generated by the fermentation to escape
but does not allow air to get into the wine

Sjaak talks about their future use of amphorae and concrete eggs

And there are two new concrete eggs for Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc
Fermentation is slower in them than in barrels and the wine has a different mouth feel
Chardonnay does not work well in amphorae at Jordan, says Gary

Then it was time to head outside to the tasting facility, where lunch was waiting
with a plethora of Jordan wines to taste and enjoy

The menu

The wines we could taste and enjoy with lunch

An innovative beetroot, carrot, butternut and feta salad sprinkled with pumpkin and sunflower seeds

A version of Waldorf salad, apples, celery, celeriac, walnuts and grapes

Chicken kebabs, venison pies and olives with the red salad

A very good cheese board; we really enjoyed the cheeses,
especially the soft gorgonzola with the grapes and good bread on the table

Mousehall Gin. We each had a small taste of this innovation from Jordan
Warm, with floral notes and layers of flavour and aromas. Very enjoyable

Some of the excellent wines we tasted with the IWSC Trophy for Best White Wine producer in 2022

The weather has been very warm and so harvest was progressing at speed

Thank you all at Jordan for another informative and very enjoyable day

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