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
Food and Beverage Manager Matt Dietchmann
brings out the chef so we can applaud the great food
Thank you Vineyard Hotel for giving us
this opportunity to learn much more about growing vines
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015
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