February 2010
The 2010 harvest at Bushmanspad Estate has kicked-off with a bang! On Friday, February 5th, on a beautiful clear, sunny morning, we started harvesting our Sauvignon blanc grapes. The grapes have reached optimum ripeness levels and wonderful, typical varietal flavours were present. The Sauvignon blanc grapes were extremely healthy and augured well for the 2010 vintage! We’ll be making our Sauvignon blanc again this year in a fuller, mouth-filling style, keeping the fresh, flinty herbaceous- and tropical flavours intact. This style proved to be a hit with the market in 2009 and we’ve received wonderful recognition for our 2009 Sauvignon blanc!
The first Merlot grapes have also been harvested. Small berries with lower yields than previous years has resulted in concentrated fruit flavours, which we’re extremely excited about! The structure in the Merlot juice looks very promising with beautiful ripe tannins. The Merlot and the other reds will receive the full treatment of regular pump-overs to extract maximum colour, flavour and tannins from the skins. Oak maturation will follow in top quality French oak barrels.
We’re awaiting the ripening of our Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet franc, Shiraz, Mourvedre and Malbec grapes. The warm and dry days are cooled in the evenings by cool mountain breezes and the high altitude of Bushmanspad Estate allows for the slower ripening of grapes, developing concentrated flavours and excellent acidity levels.
Our Winemaker, Jean-Pierre Daneel has assembled a team of two Californian assistant winemakers - to strengthen his team for the harvest - with wide-ranging experience in California, Australia and other parts of the world. Luke and Nicole, it’s great to have you with us and thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.
We only expect to finish the 2010 harvest towards the end of April, but so far it looks to be another very good year.
We hope to see you on Bushmanspad Estate soon!
Best regards
The Bushmanspad Estate family
May 2009
Finally the real deal has arrived for Bushmanspad: The opening of the new cellar. During the past months the extension of the cellar has been finalized and we can now process a maximum of 150 tons of grapes. Our coming harvest will be an in-house affair for the first time, as our previous two harvests were processed at Graham Beck wines in Robertson. The cellar has been constructed in the 18th century barn which has been wisely transformed without losing the romantic characteristics. Additional buildings were erected for storage and machinery. The farm has now come to its final stage and we hope to continue with and work further on our success.
Our winemaker Jean-Pierre Daneel has gotten our 2006 wines on many wine-menus in upmarket restaurants in the Cape and Johannesburg. Our overseas activities now include the Netherlands and China, with other markets to follow suit. Our flagship wine, the Cabernet Sauvignon, opens many doors for us and it looks that the quality of the 2007 harvest, to be bottled this month, is even better. This year we will also release a Cabernet Franc and our first Sauvignon Blanc of the 2009 harvest as well a Rosé, which we have even bigger expectations foor, considering the terroir where the grapes are growing. Speaking of growth, it looks like 2009 will be pulling all the plugs. The heavy rains in November caused an ideal base for maximum growth and we were able to guide the vines through this process. We will probably get our best ever harvest this season and with the opening of the new wine cellar it gives us lots to be proud of. The more reason for you to visit when you pass us on the R60, on your trip to or from Cape Town, for a tour and wine tasting. We are open on week days from 9-5 pm and on Saturdays from 9-2pm.
Don’t forget the Wacky Wine weekend that will take place early June (5/6/7 June!)which is a must visit for the whole Robertson Wine Valley. We will keep you posted!
Regards,
Bushmanspad