Harvest time...

I have been promising Jake and promising Jake that I'll take him to Buitenverwachting to go and help with their harvest, so with a little more than 2 weeks left to their harvest, we've finally made it down to the farm a couple of times to take part in their busy season.  Our first visit was rained out and during our second visit, they were harvesting on another farm.  This time, despite the public holiday, the pickers were out in force.  They had two big blocks of chardonnay to get in before they could go home and enjoy the rest of the day off with their families, so they were working fast and it was great for Jake to see them rushing through the vines, picking with such speed.  There are so many new faces on the farm and yet, amongst the harvesters, there are so many who recognised Jake and I and who came to say hi.  One even told Jake that she could just see that he was Jacques' son.  They made him feel really special and you could just see his chest growing with each hello.  I think he likes to know that they still remember his dad and he likes to be somebody important on the farm.

Anyway, he was handed some pruning shears and set to work.  This young guy (I didn't get his name), took the time to show Jake how to go about picking the bunches of grapes.  He was Jake's teacher and Jake enjoyed working quietly beside him...

 It's generally pretty festive in the vineyard, especially when they're working fast and I always enjoy watching them working.  They weren't too happy yesterday though and the two groups of workers were arguing a little with each other over the crates they use to collect grapes.  You see, in the cellar, they were pressing whole bunches of grapes, because the quality was so good.  The cellar work is slower than the vineyard work, so the empty were being held up in the cellar.  Jake thought their arguing was funny though... 

    See my precious boy working hard over there. He just made himself at home. Part of the team...

Look at him go!  He got the hang of it pretty quickly, not that it takes much brain power.  It does take quite a bit of physical skill to cut through the vine though...

Proud as punch with his perfectly picked bunches of grapes...

Grapes ready to be squished into wine.  In my humble opinion, Chardonnay grapes are nicer than Sauvignon Blanc grapes (Jake even nicked a bunch to take to school in his lunch box), however I far prefer a crisp, fresh Sauv Blanc over a thick heavy Chard...

 Towards the end of the row, Jake started to get bored and declared that he wanted to go by tractor back to the cellar to help make the wine...

The full crates were all staked up and ready to be loaded onto the tractor, to be taken to the cellar.  Jake was rushing to get to the tractor before it left without him...

These guys are strong.  Those crates weigh about 20kgs each.  And they don't just carry one, that's their job for the day...

Finally, on the tractor and ready to go to the cellar...

I tried to snap some pictures of the views on the way down to the cellar, but it was quite a bumpy ride and we were wedged between two pallets and I was trying to hang onto Jake, so didn't get too many.  It was quite nice to see things from a different angle though.  This is a block of Sauvignon Blanc in front of the manor house (it's there behind the tree)...

Back at the cellar and ready to be put to work!  By the way, I think the tractor ride was possibly the highlight of Jake's morning on the farm.  He kept asking me if I thought any of his friends were doing anything so cool with their day...

Once the grapes arrive at the cellar, they are taken off the back of the tractor with a forklift...

And stashed outside the cellar until they have space inside for more grapes...

Inside the cellar, the guys are working hard to process the grapes and to get them into the press.  Like I mentioned before, they were working with whole bunches, so it's a much more precise, time-consuming job than when the grapes are mashed up as they go through the de-stalker as per my previous post.  It gives the guys a chance to take out any leaves and bugs that would otherwise end up in the wine...

For about 3 months of the year, the cellar is a noisy, busy place to work.  The guys are exhausted, working through the night sometimes.  Once the grapes have been picked, they're under pressure to get them pressed and the juice into the tanks.  The white haired guy in the corner is Peter.  Pete's the farm manager and he is beyond ecstatic with his harvest this year.  Last year the Chardonnay block they harvested on Wednesday gave 4.9 tons.  On Wednesday, with 10 rows still to be picked, they were already up to 6.5 tons.  And the quality of the grapes is exceptional.  He's a happy guy and now it's up to the cellar team to look after all his hard work...

Jake's showing you where the wine goes to from the press for fermentation.  It's always a juggling act to make sure that they have enough space for the new wines.  Fun and games...

A peek through the restaurant and into the vineyards beyond.  The head chef is an Austrian chap, Edgar, who can only be described as a perfectionist.  He is passionate about his food, which is always beautifully presented and his seafood is sublime.  And don't get me started on his desserts.  My favourite is their chocolate variation (not that I've eaten there too many times), which I don't see on their current menu...

Another view of the courtyard.  Tasting room and cellar up ahead and restaurant to the right...

We stopped back past the cellar, just in time to see them start the press up on it's 2 hour cycle.  Jake was thrilled to see it going, even though it's really not that exciting from the outside.  Herman was thrilled with the juice coming off the grapes, so smiles all around.  The kid on the left is Justin, he was a cute, chubby 3-year old the last time I saw him; now he's a fit, trim, rugby-playing 11-year old.  How time flies...

Danie met us at the farm, he'd been for a ride up in the mountains.  We headed back to his house for a small boerewors roll braai for lunch and lots of lazing in the gorgeous sunshine.  Jake spent the entire afternoon fishing and was thrilled with his catch of the day...

Other than that, schools are closing today and only go back on 10 April, after Easter.  I think I'm looking forward to the break from routine more than Jake is and I'm pretty sure back to school will come far too quickly for me.  The kids go back in winter uniform, so I need to get Jake's wardrobe sorted out again.  He can't wait for rugby season to start too, so hopefully the second term will be a better one for him.

 

I'm getting my new skylight fitted in my lounge this afternoon and Jake and I will be spending some time working in our garden over the weekend.  We've begun digging out flowerbeds, which is seriously tough work, but we are excited to be doing it all on our own too.  Hopefully the results will be good.  I'll take some photos for Monday.

 

Enjoy the weekend and be good!

Sue X