"Every year, we eagerly await to see how harvest unfolds," says Tim Rudd, the owner of Brookdale Estate in Paarl. "No two vintages are the same, and where Mother Nature is concerned, you can prepare and plan to your very best ability, but she can throw in a curveball at any time."
The Brookdale team is ready for whatever Mother Nature throws at them in Harvest 2022! Farm manager Ampie Dirkse is heading up the Estate vineyard management with support from the consultant viticulturist, Jaco Engelbrecht. This year, Brookdale also has Alessio Ballerini, and intern from Elsenburg Agricultural college helping out during harvest, bringing some welcome extra hands, heart and helpful guidance to this year’s crop.
Alessio says the harvest is going to be later than last year as the reds have only just started to go into veraison (when the berries turn from green to red). Summer arrived a little later in the Cape, but things are starting to heat up with some days clocking in at over 40°C. "With the rise in temperatures, we are expecting ripening to move forward fairly quickly from this point on," he says. While the grapes are ripening, the team is fine-tuning the vines and trying to achieve the perfect balance of airflow around the bunches and leaves, light penetration and protecting the sensitive berries from getting sunburnt.
Airflow is important because it prevents fungi from taking hold, which thrive in damp conditions. "With the warm temperatures, combined with the sporadic unseasonal rainfall that we have seen in the past few weeks, this is a real risk and needs careful attention."
Light penetration is key to the grapes ripening evenly across the vineyard block, as well as the vine photosynthesising to keep the vine fed. "If we don’t allow for enough light, even at high sugar levels, the wines can have a greenness to them which we want to avoid." On the other hand, too much light can lead to the berries getting sunburnt or cracked, which leaves them vulnerable to fungi, as well as causing berries to drop off the bunches. To avoid this, each vine is tended to by hand to ensure the grapes remain protected.
Harvesting the second vintage of Brookdale’s unique white field blend block is very exciting. Each vintage allows for the climate of the growing season to shape which vines thrive and which vines struggle in this mixed block.
Tim Rudd says: "We look forward to seeing which cultivars will look the best when it is time to harvest, and how they will all come together in the bottle."
The new red field blend is another first for Brookdale. It has literally burst into life and with no grapes this year, the vines are being allowed to grow freely – it’s their only job for 2022!
Over the next season, these vines will grow deep route systems to survive the strong winds and high temperatures they will be exposed to in the future. Moving forward, the harvest team is keeping a close eye on sugar levels in the grapes to ensure that the fruit is picked at the optimum ripeness, before the work starts in the cellar. Nostradamus allegedly said, "Prediction is difficult, especially about the future." We say cheers to that!