The Basson family house on
Ormonde farmstead in Darling
Tables laid for lunch in the
barrel cellar, where they still have some huge old barrels from years ago.
These have now become more popular and are quite scarce
Waiting outside the barrel cellar to go picking
This is dry land country
in high summer so no grass, but a row of old bluegum trees that were used for wood
and windbreaks in the olden days.
The talented chef starts
to cook our spit braai lamb for lunch
A beautiful farmyard scene
on Ormonde with a wonderful West Coast sky
Watched by owner Theo
Basson, we all climb aboard the staff transporter. NO, it is not the cattle
carrier
After a bumpy ride through
the streets of Darling, the countryside and then the vineyards about 14 Km from the
farm, we reach the grape pickers, who have already brought in several loads of
the Cabernet Franc
Some watched and some
picked alongside the workers. All the grapes we picked went into the workers
baskets so, hopefully, we helped rather than hindered their work.
Take a pair of secateurs and
get picking
Theo tells us how and
where to pick
Using secateurs was new to
some
Beautiful blue black Cabernet Franc grapes
The pickers take a mid-morning break
We all move on to new rows
Lug boxes emptied onto the
tractor bins
A typical Darling
landscape at harvest time
Theo Basson, the owner of
Ormonde
The farm manager with his Labrador, watching progress as the tractors head for the farm with full bins
Wonderful ripe grapes
still on the vine
There were other crews
picking in other vineyard blocks
This block has been picked; time
to move on
Super Labrador
A tractor has its wheel
changed, all part of the day’s work
Another glorious summer
sky
Travelling to the winery in the staff
transporter
Bins full of grapes queuing
up for the crusher
The Archimedes screw, where
the grapes are de-stalked and gravity fed into the winery below
Beneath the screw, the
grapes head for the tanks
A worker removes the
stalks from the cellar once they have been separated from the grapes
In the very clean cellar, you could smell the grapes fermenting
Another bin of grapes goes
into the screw
Theo shows us the
fermenting tanks
We tasted some freshly
fermenting Sauvignon blanc – still full of sugar and beautifully perfumed fruit
Everything is kept
spotless
The four graces treading
some Cabernet Franc grapes
It is hard and messy work
Good for the skin
And a great deal of fun!
The grape juice starts to
rise to the surface
It was time for some
lovely cold Sauvignon Blanc, Alexanderfontein’s Chip off the Old Block (Ormonde's supermarket label)
Washing off
A green vineyard, which
will take on colour now that the grapes have been picked
As we left, the grapes
were still coming in and here a worker helps to get them into the hopper
Waiting for lunch in the
barrel cellar
Theo answering questions
The lamb was absolutely
scrumptious, tender, and was covered in a really good basting sauce
Another of their labels,
the Ondine Pinot Noir, has loads of elegance and good fruit, toasty wood and a
smoky nose
Our favourite wine of the
day, the Ondine Cabernet Franc - we bought 6 for our cellar
© John & Lynne Ford,
Adamastor & Bacchus 2013
