The picturesque Blaauwklippen Valley.
Wineries from the Helderberg wine region are looking at a healthy and high-quality harvest for the 2023 vintage.
I interviewed winemakers in the region to find out why they are excited about this year’s harvest even though it hasn't been a textbook growing season.
According to Waterford’s winemaker, Mark Le Roux, the quality of the grapes harvested is the best since 2017. “The fruit is healthy and the berries are slightly smaller which is great for flavour and concentration.”
L’Ré Hughes, the winemaker at Stellenzicht, confirms that the berries are smaller than usual and therefore packed with great intensity. “This could shape up to be an exceptional vintage for us,” L’Ré says.
Winemaker Philip van Staden at Dornier also has great expectations for his vineyard: “Generally speaking our vines are as healthy as in any other year.”
Kleinood’s winemaker, Reynie Oosthuizen, agrees that 2023’s grapes are looking really good and show the most potential since his tenure started in vintage 2019.
The Helderberg Mountain experienced a colder winter this year which is considered a great start to the season as it forces the vines into their dormancy phase and protects them from budding too early, allowing the vine to rest and recover from the intensity of the previous harvest period.
“For most of the growing season, we experienced superb growing and ripening conditions considering a higher-than-normal humidity level. This helped our vineyards by relieving the heat stress and aided in the vineyard's consistent growth,” says Mark.
David says growth was moderate from the beginning as spring was a very dry season with constant winds - ideal for the slow growth of the canopy allowing the vineyards to thicken out creating a stronger highway for nutrients for the grapes.
The Blaauwklippen Valley ripening for harvest.
The early summer rain was well accepted by the Helderberg wineries, seen as relief rain which slowed the ripening of the grapes and led to continuous ripening. The common misconception is that rain during the summer months means that the harvest is lost, this is true but only in extreme cases. Mark talks us through the rain threshold. “In the heat of summer, you require at least 10mm of rain before the water reaches effective soil depth for the vineyard to use for growth. That’s quite a bit of rain before causing negative actions.”
Reynie says, “The December rain just before Christmas allowed the vineyards to go through veraison without any issues.” Veraison is the term used to describe the onset of ripening, going hand in hand with the colour change from green to purple in red grapes.
Keermont winemaker Alex Starey confirms that the rain in December was relief rain. “The vineyards dried out quite a bit towards the end of last year, but then we had rain in December which caused growth. We now have a healthy crop hanging.”
“Continuous ripening is what winemakers are after as this leads to berry development rather than berry enlargement,” explains Mark.
The slower ripening in cooler conditions leads to riper tannins, good fruit development, and richness in the final wine product. The extremities of weather are what stand between a winery and continuous ripening - if the weather is too warm the vine shuts down and dehydrates which increases the sugar concentration in the grape, this can lead to higher levels of alcohol and imbalances in the wine; extreme cold is also an unwanted condition as the vine will also shut down and this stunts the growth of the vine.
The thunder that scared most of us was a blessing in disguise for the agricultural industry. David says that the unusual thunder in December had a positive impact on the grapevines as nitrogen plays a pivotal role. “There is no better nitrogen than natural nitrogen and the positive influence could be seen immediately - the vines kept on growing which should result in a bit longer hang time for good phenolic ripeness.”
With the rain, we experienced in the summer months many thought that powdery mildew would be an issue, but as Reynie from Kleinood says, “Keeping our feet in the vineyards made sure that no powdery mildew issues were picked up.” This scarcity of mildew and fungal infection is evident throughout the Helderberg region, this is due to the experience of growing vineyards on the Helderberg Mountain.
Each winemaker’s intimate knowledge of the conditions of the Helderberg Mountain can be seen throughout their vineyards. At Waterford Estate, for example, heat waves are being managed with canopy control. “We never break away any leaves on our vines to aid in sunlight penetration, we rather work with narrower canopies that allow for sunlight to pierce through the canopy but reduce the risk of direct sunlight on the grapes,” says Mark.
As the harvest season continues, the wineries will pursue to be attentive to their vines, assessing them daily and choosing when to harvest. Reynie mentions that winemaking is an art and taking the gamble of when to pick is a cumulation of knowledge, science and experience. “We will continue to taste as we go through the vineyards this vintage and make sure to pick on taste and not just sugars.”
An early morning’s harvest at Waterford Estate.
As a whole, the Helderberg wine region is looking at a healthy harvest for the 2023 vintage. The experience of these wineries and their teams are showcased in every vintage, the quality of the grapes grown is without question, and the wine never ceases to impress all who taste it.
#FunFact: Vineyards are survivors and have amazing survival mechanisms. When it gets above +- 35C, the vineyards shut down and close their breathing holes on their leaves thus slowing the evaporation of water.