Our chief winemaker, Richard Rowe and viticulturist Unathi share their thoughts on the South African wine cultivar, Pinotage.

We recently visited the KWV Wines team and chatted to the wine team about the harvest to date, I have attached our video footage below for your enjoyment.

We, the KWV Wines bloggers have just received this harvest update from our wine team, Thys, Johann and Cobus.

Overview: Cobus van Graan – KWV Viticulturist:

Season was characterized by mild weather till the end of February. Mild daytime and cooler night temperatures were very favorable for slow ripening and the development of berry flavors. During this period we were truly able to harvest when we felt that the fruit was ripe and subsequently the white and red wines harvested in this period are showing well at this early stage.

As from February 27th both day and night temperatures increased and the grape intake increased dramatically. The challenge was to harvest grapes at the optimum point and the producers and winery alike put in a fantastic effort to achieve this goal.

The 2010 vintage will be smaller than predicted due to severe wind damage and high disease pressure early in the season.

White wine: Johann Fourie – KWV Winemaker

The 2010 vintage was delayed quite a bit, even for white grapes. The first grapes that we received, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay display typical base wine characteristics and are destined for our Method Cap Classique Sparkling wines and might develop to be our highlight of the 2010 vintage.

The intake of other grape varieties was inconsistent, making this a rather difficult harvest. Sauvignon blanc, Chenin blanc and Chardonnay show high potential in delivering unique wines with great characteristics. Fruity Chenin Blanc’s, elegant Chardonnay’s and a combination of grassy, tropical Sauvignon Blanc are expected.

Red Wine: Thys Loubser – KWV Winemaker:

The quality of red grapes is very promising for the 2010 harvest. Yields are lower due to the cool conditions during November and December 2009. The heat wave during February impacted on the intake of grapes, as all varieties ripened simultaneously. Currently Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon are still being received. Overall the grape quality is very good and displaying a good colour. Merlot is showing particular potential for this harvest.

We’ve returned from KWV with loads of pictures. We also had a quick catch up with the winemaker’s assistants, lovely ladies with bucket loads of useful information.

So the morning started pretty early to try and get to KWV Wines in time for the “tipping of the grapes.” This is when the trucks arrive from all over the Western Cape with a container load of grapes and literally tip the grapes in through a shoot into the de-stemmer.

We also managed to enjoy the sweetness that the Chardonnay grapes had to offer…

Enzymes are then added to aid the fermentation process and we met with Jenash Topher who is the official enzyme mixer, he also assists with the grapes as they enter the cellar.

After the grapes are destemmed, they travel though a cooling pipe into enormous vats which hold between 20 000 – 60 000L of wine.

I took a quick snap of the view from the KWV Wines’ cellar of Paarl rock while I was feeling creatively inspired, if I were I winemaker this would be the kind of view I would insist upon!

 
After rushing through the cellar, following the journey of the grapes and meeting new people, we had a chance to catch up with the winemakers’ assistants about the harvest, in a nutshell this is what they had to say:

KWV Wines has completed harvesting the Pinotage and Chenin grapes. Both winemakers feel that despite the erratic weather conditions Cape Town and Paarl has been experiencing, 2010 looks like a promising year, especially for Sauvignon Blanc and Pinotage. The KWV Wines harvest is estimated to end during the first week of April.

More on this soon though, we’ll be uploading our video footage within the next few days so watch this space!

In the meantime take a look through our Facebook gallery at more photos of the harvest here.

Meet Richard Rowe, our Australian born chief winemaker at KWV. Richard joined KWV as chief winemaker in October 2008 and has since has shared his experience, uncompromising sense of quality and attention to detail.  This is what he has to say:

The 2010 harvest is proving to be slightly tricky because our Western Cape weather is just not playing along nicely. Today for example, was hot and muggy and the heavens have just opened so the rain is pouring down. Not ideal weather for a harvesting season. As a result we haven’t managed to take more photos of the harvest, because the grapes are coming in quite slowly. But in the meantime we have chatted to (a rather busy) Thys, our red winemaker about the harvest, this is what he had to say: 

“So far we received Pinotage, Merlot and Shiraz grapes. We are almost finished with the Pinotage and we’ll start on the Merlot shortly. The grapes are definitely coming in later than in 2009 because of the cool weather and today’s weather has made things challenging…. However, the quality of the Pinotage that has come in is amazing and from the Merlot grapes that we have seen, KWV Wines is expecting a good vintage from this year’s crop too

Meet Angelina Swee Eng, Angie was born in Singapore and has lived in all corners of the globe before moving back to South Africa in 97. She is currently based in Cape Town and is part of the KWV commercial sales team, focusing on the Asian and Australian markets.

We asked Angie a couple of questions about her opinions of wine trends in the Asian market, this is what she had to say:

What do you enjoy most about working in Asia?
I love the food! And the melting pot of different cultures that you find in Asia. The sheer size of the market is very exciting and I am looking forward to visiting a few new places and learning a few new languages

What’s different about how wine is enjoyed in Asia compared with Europe or other western markets?
Though there have been wine producers in some Asian countries for centuries, wine drinking is largely new to Asia. Wine consumption is often about trust – if the company and the brand have a strong and proud heritage, then the products will be trusted. In a number of our Asian markets, KWV is regarded as a company to trust, because of our 90 year heritage and the quality of the wines produced.

Are there particular cultivars or styles that are particularly popular?
The Asian market is more partial to red wines than white wines. Quality wines are appreciated.

Does the Asian style of food and entertaining influence how wine is consumed?
From my recent visit to Singapore, I observed that traditionally wines do not appear to be drunk with Asian style foods, but this is changing as more people are exposed to different wines and are able to try them with different foods.

What’s the biggest challenge of selling South African wine in Asia?
In my opinion, one of the first steps is to educate Asia about South Africa as a quality wine producing country to rival any European country. Currently there is plenty of awareness about the fact that France and Italy produce quality wines, but little is known about South African wines. I do believe that the focus on South Africa in the coming months will give people a picture of South Africa and inform them about our winelands.
I will be working very closely with WOSA (Wines of South Africa) to promote South Africa as a wine producing country and to promote and educate consumers about KWV Wines.

Welcome to the New Year! It’s summertime here in Paarl and although most people are back at work, South Africans are still enjoying the warm evenings around a braai (barbeque) with a chilly bottle of white wine. To celebrate fresh beginnings, we thought we’d start the new year with some ideas around what food to pair with some of our crisp and delicious white wines.

So, once again we have turned to our trusty white winemaker, Johann and asked his advice on simple food and wine pairing suggestions that you can use to impress your friends with.

Here are his thoughts:

KWV Reserve Chenin Blanc is a lovely crisp wine with pineapple, apple and tropical flavours. It has floral and peach notes and ends with well-balanced fruit sweetness. Johann suggests pairing this wine with strong or mild cheese, appetizers, shellfish (such as mussels) and Asian food (mild noodle or rice dishes) as well as with white meat like chicken.

Alternatively our KWV Reserve Sauvignon Blanc is a lively and crisp tropical and granadilla, gooseberry and subtle green pea flavours which are complemented by the floral notes. This wine is soft and well balanced and works perfectly with pastas served with a helping of creamy mushroom sauce as well as seafood and chicken making it a very easy wine to match something with.

Cobus, grew up in Elgin and began is career with a B.Sc.Agric. Oenology and Viticulture, after which he worked in California for three months. On his return he joined Vinpro Consultation services as Senior Viticulturist for the Paarl area.

Currently Cobus is Senior Viticulturist at KWV. He is responsible for grape procurement, producer liaison and new area developments – all in all, ensuring the excellence that epitomises the KWV Wines.

We’d like to introduce you to Unathi Montshongo, one of the KWV Viticulturists. Unathi is originally from Umtata, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa – but it was a few years later that her love affair with winemaking began at Stellenbosch University where she completed her B.Sc.Agric. with Oenology and Viticulture. She later furthered her education with an Honours in Viticulture and a Certificate in Business Communication.