Every season has its own mood, its own colours, its own character, but most interestingly here at Steenberg every season has its own sounds. Seasonal change is glaringly obvious in a vineyard as vine plants change drastically every three months. Visit Steenberg in the middle of winter and again in the middle of summer and it will seem a completely different place. In winter the vines are bare and brown yet in summer they are full and green while the natural cycle methodically ticks through its own course. However, as with any working wine farm, the main focus is caring for the precious berries the vines produce and with that care comes an entire variety of sounds.
During December the Tasting Room and Bistro are both busy and bustling places as summer holiday-goers revel in their high spirits. Loud cries of laughter and a constant buzz of energetic chatter fill the air while visitors sip and savour their vinous treasures. Come February the harvester is out in the vineyards droning away as it works through the rows of vine. Carrying trailer loads of valuable cargo, the tractor trundles by noisily. The cellar clanks and bangs with crushing, pressing and racking.
Lush Green Vine Leaves during Summer
Walk into the cellar in early autumn and all the fermenting barrels are bubbling and gurgling aggressively. The wine sloshes and splashes as cellar staff rack it from tank to barrel. The lees filter whirs and zings as it the separates sediment. Later in autumn, out in the vineyard, the click-click of garden shears resonates from farm workers carefully pruning the vines, preparing them for the rest to come.
Yellow Leaves during Autumn
Lady winter ushers in a period of dormancy: Days grow shorter and nights become colder. Lashing sheets of rain smack the roof of the cellar as out in the vineyard plant-life slowly shuts down. The water trickles and drips down the slopes. After the rain everything is still as the pervading sound of silence encompasses the farm. The icy cellar lies frozen from cold-stabilisation, lying in wait for the months ahead.
Kaal stokkies during Winter
Come spring and crispness fills the air, the once whispering wind picks up and breathes life into the vines. Birds chirp and tweet, squirrels scurry and scamper and flowers begin to bloom. After lying in maturation wines are ready for bottling. The ruckus of knocking and pinging emanates from the production bay as bottles are packed and boxes are stacked.
Pop a bottle
Noises may come and go from one season to the next but there is one sound which you will always hear: the popping of bubbly bottles and clinking of glasses!