Small but Quality harvest 2023
Harvest 2023 will probably known as one of the smallest harvest in the last 15 years, but it has the potential to be best quality harvest. I am writing this as we are heading to the end of the harvest and after 30mm rain last 2 days.
Again we were fortunate this harvest to work with grapes from all over the Western Cape, Darling, Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Elgin, Elandskloof and Breedekloof. Through all of these regions there is a drop in quantity, but we all are happy with the quality. Really looking forward drinking these wines in a year or 2.
A few weeks ago I took a quick trip down to Johannesburg to do a wine tasting for Pirates Club. Having a break from the cellar was good, and making more wine friends and showing Bizoe and Rikus Neethling Wines to the people of Pirates even made it better. Pirates had their annual running event on the weekend, and I hoped the wine helped some of them to get over the line.
Harvest still goes on in the cellar. We still have some Sauvignon blanc and Malbec grapes hanging in the Elgin Valley, Shiraz in Wolseley and Mourvedre in Darling to come into the cellar. I mentioned the rain in the first paragraph, the rain will have a great benefit for the red grapes, but I am not so sure about the Sauvignon blanc. As they say, it’s part of farming and you need to make the best of it. Until the rain arrived I truly believed we were heading to one of the best quality harvest in a long time.
I would also like to congratulate Stef Thiofanidis from Johannesburg on winning the Bizoe Veldskoen competition. Stef I hope you and your partner enjoy the shoes as I do. Feel free to wear them and enjoy a glass of Bizoe Morningstar 2018 that you purchased during February.
