Vintage report 2012
Click here for our current vintage report!
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Merlot 2012
Unfortunately, this season we couldn't produce our flagship Bein Merlot, since the
best fruit was destroyed by a fire in early January 2012. So we focused
exclusively on our Little Merlot. Besides, we produced the usual
quantities of rosé, our popular Pink Merlot.
- The Little Merlot 2012 was fermented in
stainless steel on the skins for 8 days and matured for 10 months in
3rd and 4th fill barriques. During this barrel maturation, it was
racked three times and also blended with some 10% of Petit
Verdot of top quality, which we sourced from a neighboring vineyard.
It presents
itself now with beautiful fruit flavours in the nose and well integrated
spiciness on the palate. It is a wine which can be enjoyed young, but
which you can expect to develop nicely throughout 2016/17.
7879 bottles were filled in late January 2013, unfined and only gently filtered. Alc 14.19%, pH 3.62, TA 5.1, extract 30.1 g/l - Pink Merlot 2012: a palate-friendly, dry though
fruity-fresh rosé from our more vigorous parts of the vineyard. The
lusher growth of the vines combined with an early harvest of the fruit
guarantees year for year the pleasant red berry flavors and
the freshness which characterize this lovely wine.
3700 bottles; Alc 13.6%, RS 4.5 g/l, TA 5.5 g/l, pH 3.31
VINTAGE REPORT 2012
April 2012: Late harvest - ripe fruit
Delayed budding and dry but cooler conditions during summer resulted in
a very late harvest: The grapes for the rosé were harvested on 13th of
March, while the fruit for the red wine only came in on April 3
and 4, i.e. just before the Easter weekend. For those who follow our
stories, this is really late for
Stellenbosch. But waiting was well worth it, since we
were rewarded with a super-ripe crop in terms of phenolic ripeness, with
at the same time surprisingly low sugar levels, which means lower alcohol
potential.
On the other hand, we could hardly wait until it was time to pick, because for the first time, we wanted to harvest with our donkeys. The video tells you more.
January - February 2012: Ripening time
It was a dry summer. Very,
very dry!
And so it happened:
On January 8, a fire broke out on the nearby highway and quickly spread
into the best part of our vineyard. The damage was extensive, and within
half an hour, 30% of our crop was destroyed. So this vintage will not
produce any Bein Merlot or Reserve Merlot 2012.
But life goes on: already 4 weeks later, the vines budded
again, and they seemed to try catching up for next season. For the rest of the vineyard, veraison
completed by mid-Feb, and were looking forward to a rather late
and small but good crop. What is the saying?
Less is more!
December 2011: Stellenbosch is busy
Still lots of work in the vineyard, but also the visitors are returning to the Winelands keeping us busy. A special attraction was the 2nd "Summer in Stellenbosch Valley Festival", where we offered our Merlots with Swiss delicacies. See more on the video clip.
November 2011 keeps us in the vineyard
It is still unusually dry, yet the growing vines keep us busy with shoot positioning over and over again, leaf plugging, tipping and topping and finally bunch trimming. Have a look at the video and see how this works.September 2011: A dry start
We had only little rain, though the beginning of September was characterized by unfriendly wet-cold weather. By mid-September, this changed to sunny and we could accomplish the short-pruning by September 15 in beautiful weather, which stayed on for the rest of the month. This however means another dry start into the season.
August 2011: Rain at last
August finally brought some rain, and the main dams filled to 70%
of their capacity. The vineyard is still dormant, and the final
short-pruning to two buds is planned for mid September.
July 2011: Cold and dry
It is cold, very cold. But also dry, very dry. Up to now, we haven't had even half the rain usual during this time of the year. But thanks
to sufficient precipitation in the previous winter, the dams are still comparably
full.
Contrary to popular belief, winter brings lots of work, in the vineyard
with pruning and maintenance, in the cellar with racking and blending.
Also the donkeys want to be kept busy, since there are not many tourists
for their entertainment. So we restored an
old Cape donkey cart and will put them to work...we'll keep you posted in case we succeed :-))
Winter is also flowering time, with flowers all over in the most varied colors.
The birds also get ready for the new season with a vibrant new plumage. And at last, our barn owls started breeding. On
July 21, they laid their first egg.
