Newsletter August 2023 - Harvest update 2023
Although none of the other wine producers on the island have started harvesting yet, we have been at it for a full 14 days. This is because, as you know, we like fresh, fruity wines with lots of aromatic expression. This year, we kicked off the harvest on August 1st and again this year it was our Pinot Noir that was ready to pick first.
We started with the least ripe Pinot grapes for making a rosé wine and then continued with the rest of the grapes which have now been vinified into red wine. Our Pinot Noir for red wine was divided into 3 different batches this year. After about 5 days of maceration, we decided that it was time to press and thus separate the grape skins from the still fermenting wine. First, we allowed all the now-fermenting must that flowed freely out of the tank without skins, our so called "free flow" to continue into a separate tank without having to pass through the press. Next, the remaining liquid was pressed off the skins in two rounds. First we pressed up to 0.4 bar and this part was pumped into a small tank. Then we ramped the pressure up to 1 bar and this last small amount of wine also went into a separate tank. We chose to do it this way in order to have 3 different components to "play around with" for our 2023 Randa and thus to be able to make an even more complex and exciting wine.
On the last day of the first harvest week (week 31) we started harvesting our Chardonnay. Here we started with the grapes from the youngest vines (planted in 2020) and after that, the grapes from the more mature plants. It is quite normal for the grapes on very young vines to ripen faster than on older vines. We notice this every year as our plants get older.
In week 32 (commencing Monday the 7th) we started harvesting our Sauvignon Blanc followed by the Viognier. Just like last year, we divided our Sauvignon Blanc into two different tanks that were set to ferment with two different types of yeast. This again to create complexity and more “pieces” for our upcoming “blending puzzle”. We did the same with our Chardonnay this year and for the same reasons.
The Sauvignon Blanc in particular is hyper-aromatic this year and we can't wait to taste it as fully-fermented wine in a few weeks!
At the end of week 32, we continued the harvest with the least ripe of our Grenache grapes, which again this year will be part of our lovely summer red wine and then also picked our Viognier.
Next week we start harvesting our Giro Ros, which is our local "hero" and looks absolutely sublime this year!
By then all the green grape varieties will have been harvested, and as soon as they are perfectly ripe, we continue with all remaining black grape varieties for our red wines. As always, it is probably our Grenache, which also constitutes a large part of our fresh summer red wine, that will be ready first.
So; status is, that in the first 2 weeks we have harvestedmore than 50,000 kg. of grapes and we are extremely satisfied with the quality, and if Mother Nature and her “weather Gods” continue to smile our way, we are indeed extremely optimistic about the rest of the harvest as well.
……so you can already start looking forward to our 2023 wines that’ll be ready for you sometime next year.
