Harvest 2023 did start in with Sauvignon blanc grapes from Stellenbosch. Yes, I am surprised that this specific block delivered more grapes this year than last. Harvest 2023 is now officially underway!

Building up to harvest time is exciting time and then for it finally to happen is awesome. Anonymous quote that puts a harvest for me in perspective “A chef has a chance with every dish to create the perfect dish, winemaker has one chance a year to create the perfect wine”.

Harvest is a fun time in the cellar Things I will be looking at when deciding to harvest specific block. The sugar concentration in the grape, natural acidity and the pH and most importantly what style of wine I would like to create. Other factors also playing a role, but the main factors will be the weather forecast during harvest period. Once the fruits arrived in the cellar it’s up to me to guide the juice in the direction I would like to wine to be one day. I will be monitoring the clarity of the juice and the fermentation temperature. Fermentation will take place either in stainless steel tanks (ex Bizoe Morningstar Semillon), barrels (ex Bizoe Henrietta), concrete eggs (ex Bizoe Crossroad Semillon) or even in amphora (Bizoe Idioglossia Chardonnay). Type of vessel plays an important role to determine the style of wine we are producing.

Winemakers sometime get accused for only working two months in the year during harvest time. Well, I can confirm we are working damn hard in harvest, but it’s also the most enjoyable experience. Bonding with your team in the cellar, late nights waiting for the press to finish, cleaning up after each day and a simple cheers at the end of the hard day works makes it all worthwhile. 

Crush term use to describe harvest time, crusher is a de-stemmer that knock the fruit from the stem and gets squeezed open to start the flowing of the juice. Let’s go and crush this harvest! 

Happy New Year! Yes we are back and ready to take on 2023 with a smile and a glass of wine in the one hand. 

Returning after the December holiday is always exciting because we know it’s the fun time of the year, harvest season. The question always when we return from our December break, has the grapes started to change color. The process when the red grapes change from green to black in called “veraison”. The definition of veraison is the change of color of the grape berries. Veraison represent the transition from berry growth to berry ripening, and many changes in the berry development occur at veraison.

Just to clarify veraison takes place in the white cultivar grapes also. The Neethling kids are just as excited for harvest to start. They can’t wait to see the grapes arriving at the cellar, going through the crusher into the separation and fermentation tanks, juice to the fermentation tanks and skins to the press. Once the juice is in the tanks standing with their glasses ready to taste the fresh juice before fermentation starts. Reading this you can just imaging the excitement of harvest season in our house.

How do I determine the ripeness of the grapes? We would always be on the lookout for the heat waves that comes around between January and March, manage the irrigation for the vines to carry through the heat. I would spend a morning walking through the vineyards looking at health/color of the leaf and fruit on the vine. While walking I would taste the grapes, as this is the most important indicator for me, is how the grapes taste.  I would also sample some the grapes and send the juice to the lab to analyses the sugar contents and natural acidity in the juice. Based on all the above aspect I make a decision on when the best time to pick the grapes.

Our first harvest at Bizoe Wines in 2008, was filled with nerves and excitement starting a new a company. Our 16th harvest coming up in a few days, weeks still feels the same as in 2008, packed with nerves and excitement. In 2008 Bizoe Henrietta and Bizoe Estalet Syrah was our only wines, we are thankful on how the Bizoe range has evolved over time and the addition of the Rikus Neethling Wine Range. 

In short as the say in the show business, let the 16th edition Bizoe start!