February the month of Love
February, the month of love, only a few days away from Valentine’s Day. It’s another reason to start thinking about which bottle of wine to open for special occasions! One thing I often find myself pondering is when to open what bottle of wine. While I don’t have a clear answer, I know that I’ll always find a reason to pop open a bottle.
Last week, harvest kicked off for us, with the first grapes for 2025 arriving in the cellar. This brings to mind the scripture I’ve been reflecting on during my mornings, along with a video by Mark Green on the importance of your job. From creating order, providing for the land, and seeing the joy of grapes growing in the vineyards, to witnessing the beauty of wine in the bottle and releasing its potential—it all makes sense to me now why wine was the first miracle!
Back to the 2025 harvest: Our first heat wave this year came approximately 14 days later than in 2024. This has given the grapes a more stable environment to ripen, along with a longer hang time on the vines, allowing them to develop more intense flavors. As I’m writing this newsletter, we’ve halted the harvest due to the first patch of rain for the season.
Is rain good or bad during harvest? Rain increases the risk of diseases in the vineyards, so we need to stay vigilant for possible rot. We’re also dealing with a very low water table in the soils, so in my opinion, the rain we’re receiving today will be beneficial for the red grapes that we’ll soon be harvesting.
Our Rikus Neethling Chenin Blanc 2024 will also be available soon on our website. This will be our second release of the wine, and it’s the first time we’re making it available online. In addition, the Bizoe Henrietta 2024 and Bizoe Estalet Syrah 2022 will be available in February. Plenty of good things happening this month of love!
This past weekend marks my first wine event for the year. We had a very festive time in the Eastern Cape during the Marina de Martinique Wine Festival in Jeffreys Bay. We’ll also be at the Imhoff Wine Festival in Noordhoek this month. Please stop by, say hello, and taste our wines!Share the love this month by sharing a bottle of wine
