Up bright and early on Saturday morning, admittedly a
little bleary eyed after such a hectic week and a late night the previous
evening, to head for the Vineyard Hotel. It was time to prune our vines! After
a welcome drink of bubbly, it was time to learn how and we found a great teacher in Waterford cellarmaster Kevin Arnold. John took photos while Lynne honed her pruning skills, then it
was off to enjoy a lovely buffet and braai lunch in the Wellness centre where
some delicious vintage wines from the sponsors were brought out of the cellar
to enjoy.(Thank you Matt Dietchmann, the Food and Beverage Manager.)
Roy Davies General Manager of the Hotel in Western cowboy mode with PR Consultant Wendy Masters of The Phoenix Partnership
Clutching glasses of bubbles, we listen to the programme for the morning
It flowed as
pruning is thirsty work. More Simonsig Brut and Rosé come to satisfy the workers
Neil Pendock
in discussion with Greg Landman
Roy Davies, Kevin
Arnold of Waterford, Neil Pendock and Kitty Petousis, owner of the Vineyard hotel
The Liesbeek
River was in full flood with water from the mountain after a week of rain
Good
snacks were provided
Lisa Airey and friend
Photographer Samantha Lowe and Kitty Petousis, owner of the Vineyard hotel
Nic van Aarde, winemaker at Warwick who made the wine from this vineyard this year, with Kevin
Arnold of Waterford
Roy tells us
whom to ask for help with the pruning
Kevin Arnold
give us very clear instructions on vine pruning which is very different from
rose pruning
Roy, Neil,
Stuart Banner and ??
First you trim
to a third and then remove the longer stockies to give you room to work
Then you
remove last years wood and leave only two buds on the base of each stokkie
Norma
Ratcliffe and Angela Lloyd getting involved
Kathryn Henderson of
Classic Wine has got the technique down to a fine art
Why cant we
plant up the right bank? It seems the hotel does not own that bank
Weeds are not
encouraged but this opportunist is quite pretty
And then, magically as John took the photograph, this bee took up a perfect position
A neighbour’s charming cat, who has taken up the Vineyard as his territory
In the words of Meerlust winemaker Chris Williams, is he the source of the isopropyl methoxymethyl pyrazine (cat's pee on a gooseberry bush) flavours typical of sauvignon blanc?
We decamp
exhausted to the Health and Fitness centre for lunch
Tables laid
and waiting In the background an examination of the wines on offer for lunch
from the Vineyard's cellar
There were
some great choices. We know how good they were, we insisted on trying to taste
them all
Delicious
salad buffet
Even more
delicious were the desserts, although we think the muesli and yogurt might have
been left from breakfast
The Health and Fitness Centre is perfect for functions and lunches
Edible flowers
for the food
The braai
going full tilt, cooking the salmon and the lamb
Very spicy
tandoori lamb
Try some
white?
Close to the
indoor pool and no one fell in, despite the exhaustion from pruning a vine each
A lovely plate
of lunch
Good news, spring has sprung, the giant
tortoises have awoken from their sleep and are on the move again
