It seems almost inconceivable that less than 30 years ago there was just one wine farm in Constantia! And it was the big one – Groot Constantia. Then along came the Jooste family, uprooting pine forests and burning tree stumps to clear land for vines. And Buitenverwachting joined the throng too.

Nowadays, the Constantia wine valley literally offers something for everyone: reds, bubblies, whites, stickies, port too – from High Constantia, Constantia Glen, Eagles Nest, Constantia Uitsig, Buitenverwachting, Steenberg, Groot and Klein Constantia.

But if there’s one wine the area is renowned for its Sauvignon Blanc – as proven by the late, great Ross Gower at Klein Constantia with the inaugural 1986 wine. This weekend sees this green grape celebrated at the Constantia Fresh festival. The inaugural event last year introduced fans of the grape to its many facets – as well as gently convincing folks that it’s a wine capable of ageing as well. All too often people think of Sauvignon Blanc as purely a whack of acid, lemon/lime and grass or green pepper flavour. Not so. Give it a bit of time in bottle and see how it evolves and takes on a different, more interesting, nuance.

 

This year the event is taking another little evolutionary step and looking at Sauvignon Blanc blends. Much of Steenberg’s reputation is linked to its ability with Sauvignon Blanc so we’re fans of any initiative which celebrates the grape and gets people to realise how versatile it actually is – and just how many expressions it can have.

Visitors to the event at Buitenverwachting on Saturday 26 February can taste not only our standard Sauvignon Blanc and the HMS Rattlesnake but also the Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2010 – a sneak preview before its release on 1 March!   We will also be showing an aged version of our Sauvignon Blanc – 2000 vintage – to illustrate the longevity of Sauvignon Blanc in the Constantia Valley.

For more information regarding ticket prices and times visit www.constantiafresh.com or purchase a ticket at the cellar door of participating farms.

“It’s the biggest bubbly harvest we have ever done at Steenberg,” winemaker JD Pretorius said this week. “We’re pressing around 20 tons a day and the loads of grapes being received in the cellar are usually spread over a two week period. That hasn’t happened because of the heat…”

The mercury levels comfortably spiking above 30 degrees, day after day, means that both winemaker and viticulturist Johann de Swardt get distinctly nervous. And extremely busy!

The grapes for the bubbly come from the sister farm, Madeba, in Robertson and are transported to Steenberg in insulated trucks to try and ensure the fruit remains as cool as possible. But with the trucks only arriving at 5pm it makes for a late night or early morning for cellar staff. “It’s easily 1am by the time we’ve finished doing all we need to and then cleaning up the cellar ready for the next day’s intake.”

But back to the weather: while beachgoers revel in the protracted spell of warm sunny weather Pretorius said this was probably one of the toughest harvests – weatherwise – he’d experienced to date.

“The initial growing period went according to plan and we all thought that it would be a late season. Then December was quite cool in comparison with other years. But that was followed by heat waves in January and February.”

 

Ultimately he, cellarmaster John Loubser and de Swardt have had to play a waiting game. “I’ve never seen such high acids but with proportionately high sugars too! We’ve just gotta be patient and sit on our hands until some of the acid drops out naturally.”

Then there are the other little “events” that happen to make the winemaker’s day even more challenging…like power outages! “We were busy pressing Pinot Noir for bubbly when the power went out. No problem to us – we’ve got a big generator for that very reason. Two… three seconds and the genie kicks in and we’re off again. Except that after about 20 minutes the generator stopped working as well! It had overheated…”

So, instead of having his focus on the grapes, Pretorius was frantically hunting around and phoning diesel mechanics for advice on what to do about an overheating generator. Ultimately, in true South African fashion “‘n boer maak ‘n plan” and the day was saved. “We got through it – with another story to tell.”

The good news is that – as of a few days ago – the first load of Sauvignon Blanc grapes made it to the winery and was tipped into the crusher/destemmer. Pretorius made sure he tweeted a picture for his Twitter followers to appreciate the moment!

Anyone entering Steenberg’s main gate will notice the golf course on the right hand side and a block of vineyards on the left. The more observant folk will notice some wannabe scarecrows that resemble an avant garde art project dotted around this vineyard. Well, they fit right in at Steenberg (which has Eduardo Vila sculptures dotted throughout) but they’re actually fully functional.

The first thing to catch your eye is the spinning windmill atop the creation – then the faux owls, with rather interesting material plumage that flutters in the breeze. Winemaker JD Pretorius says the “kamstige” owls worked really well at chasing away marauding birds …last year!

“This year it’s a different story. We think that the birds have got used to them and aren’t afraid of the ‘owls’,” JD said. The bothersome birdies roost in the poplar grove adjacent to the vineyard so don’t have to go too far to find food. The birds – described as “ogies” by JD – are a nuisance because they realise that this is one of the first blocks to ripen nicely and they attack the fruit – but not for the fruit. They prefer the seeds apparently. So they peck at the fruit to expose the seeds and the bunch of grapes then rots because the moist berry is susceptible to fungal infection.

They’ve obviously realised that the faux owls pose no threat to their foraging missions and have already started to peck the bunches. “I feel so sorry for that little vineyard,” said JD. “It’s the same one that was threatened by the fire a few weeks ago. Now it looks like we’re going to have to harvest that block sooner than anticipated – and less ripe than we’d like – otherwise the ogies are going to get it all.”

JD and the cellar team are already functioning as a tight-knit unit due to rapid onset of harvest. “The heatwave definitely hasn’t helped. It looked like things were progressing normally, and then December was quite cool which slowed things up a bit. And after that came January and those horribly hot days which sped it all up again!”

Taking in a neighbour’s grapes means a 5am start for everyone – but that’s because the adjacent property begins machine harvesting around 2am! “And it doesn’t mean that everyone gets to go home around midday…no way! We still have other stuff that requires our attention in the winery and keeps us busy until about 9pm.”

But they wouldn’t have it any other way. After all, this is the one time a year they get to do what they do best!