With the Hidden Valley Wines Harvest for 2017 completed, we asked Viticulturist, Daniël Roux, and Winemaker, Annalie van Dyk, to share with us their thoughts and insights on the factors that impacted the harvest and the quality of the grapes…
Viticulturist, Daniël Roux, reports on the weather and vineyard conditions prior to the harvest as follow: “The 2017 harvest started with extreme hot weather, which resulted in smaller bunches but hopefully also concentration of flavours. Tonnage was slightly lower this year compared to 2016. In general, growth in the vineyard was balanced and this made canopy management easier with only one topping needed. It also contributed to uniform bunch ripening. Overall the grapes were healthy.”
For Annalie, Harvest 2017 cruised by without any hiccups due to the wonderful team she had in the cellar. “Everyone knew what they were doing and it almost seemed too easy!”
"Being my third harvest at Hidden Valley it was also very exciting for me as I tried new things and experimented a little.
In the cellar we are currently busy with racking the 2017 red wines to barrel for their long sleep. Our Sauvignon blanc is all sulphured up and patiently waiting and evolving until bottling time later this year, as is the rosé.
The 2017 MCC will be the first of this vintage to be bottled and we're looking forward to implementing the next steps in the winemaking process over the course of the next few weeks.
But first of all, this week, we will be bottling a small batch of a new and very limited release! This new release will only be available later this year, but watch this space since only 800 bottles will be released and it promises to be something really special!”
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