January, 2010
Everybody arrived back in the vines safe and sound. This is the time of veraison – where the bunches start getting colour. At 80% veraison, we check all bunches for uneven ripening, and remove them. Some rootstocks / cultivars need more irrigation than others, so we irrigate as required, but about half the normal amount. We never irrigate less than 2 weeks before harvest as this blouts the berries.
Pierre is all ready for harvest – the cellar is spotless and waiting for the grapes.
December, 2009
Luckily not much happens in the vines in December. Our people get the “Christmas feeling” and are given off from around the 23rd till 3 January. However, before they leave, bunch counts have been done in each block. We know the average bunch weight of a block from our records, so after bunch counts we calculate the tonnage expected. If too high – our average is around 4.5 tons per hectare, we will remove more bunches. Each vine had a small irrigation – their Christmas present – just before closing for vacation.
November, 2009
The vines have mostly reached “pea size”. If any leaves are to be removed to allow more light into the vine, which we do a lot of, then now is the time to do it. If not done before pea size, then the bunches will get sunburn. We are removing bunches that do not have more than 12 leaves on the shoot, because these bunches will not ripen evenly, reducing quality. Just before pea size most blocks got a 25 mm irrigation. This is a very busy time for our vineyard workers.
October, 2009
Due to the amount of water in the soil – very wet – we did not irrigate once in October. The shoot growth is huge. We thinned the shoots as much as possible before flowering, but could not finish all the blocks. At flowering, the developing bunch is “fluffy”, which means that we cannot work in the vines till flowering is complete. If you disturb the vine at this time, your bunch will not flower correctly resulting in less berries on the bunch. I can see we will be doing lots of “topping” of the vines in November because of the excessive growth. The dams are still overflowing and the long term forecast for early November is about 60mm. We want the rain to stop and the soils to dry out before “pea size” – so we dont have bigger bunches. That’s the beauty of nature. We cannot control it.
September, 2009
This is the best time of the year. Budburst started on the 9th of the month. This is when we start growing the wine. Everybody is in the vineyards thinning the buds to 2 shoots. If you have more than 2 shoots per “tappie”, then the vine will not be able to support the canopy because of to much shoot and leaf growth. And then the bunches will not be the quality we require for Rijk’s wines. We will only finish thinning around the 2nd week of October. Soil and leaf tests were done earlier this year – the results showed a shortage of nitrogen, boron, zinc and manganese. We put this down in the last week of the month. It is important to note that if the mineral and nutrient values in the soil are not correct and in balance, then the vine will not be able to take in what is required for balanced growth. At the end of the month some shoots had already grown 30cm. The dams are still overflowing and the moisture content of the soil is high, so no irrigation has been required so far this month.
August, 2009
The snow has now melted. August was a very cold month giving the vines that extra bit of rest before budburst and the hard work of the growing season that the vine has to perform. Pruning was completed in the third week of this month – the last of the white cultivars have now been pruned. We leave the white vines till last to prevent regrowth. The farm is looking really beautiful.
Maintenance of tractors, implements, pumps and all general equipment has been completed and ready for the most exciting time of our year – the growing season. If you go to viticulture – growing season you can read about all the phases and what we do.
July, 2009
It’s now mid winter, the snow is on our surrounding mountains and we have already had over 280mm of rain. The rivers are in full flight – and our 3 dams were all overflowing on 18 July – the earliest in 12 years. This time of year is the time to ” clean up ” everything on the farm and do all required maintenance. The 3 new blocks of Chenin Blanc and Pinotage which were planted last year – we have installed all the poles and wires that make up the trellis system. All trellis wires have been checked and tightened. We have started pruning which should be completed by the end of August – just in time for budburst which we expect will be in the first week of September.
June, 2009
And it keeps on raining. So far this month 74mm. The storm winds had no effect on the farm buildings or vines. Lucky. We lost one of our river pumps – the level rose above the pump and away it went. A new one will be installed within one week. Thanks for insurance.
We have almost finished all the “clean pruning” where we prune 300mm above the first wire. This makes it far easier to select which shoots you keep for the soon to come growing season.
May, 2009
Our first good winter rain has arrived. We had 48mm for the month.
It is also the time of year that the rivers flow, so we are pumping from the rivers to fill our 2 dams.
Most important for the dry summer when we need to irrigate.
Last winter we planted 2 blocks of Pinotage and 2 blocks of Chenin Blanc.
These new vines have had a year to settle and we are now busy installing the trellis systems.
One block each of bushvine and one each of our newly designed open wide canopy system. More about this later.