Some claim it is one of South Africa’s best vintages for decades, but that doesn’t mean it was without drama.
Written for Wine-Searcher
So, how was the 2015 harvest in South Africa?
“Like a rat up a drainpipe being pursued by a Cape cobra,” was the analysis of Fledge & Company’s Leon Coetzee. “It was an incredibly early harvest. Less than average winter rainfall, scant spring rains, good heat and a few real hot spells meant that you had to be in the vineyards even more than usual and have growers who know their vines really well, as well as not getting too spooked too early,” Coetzee commented in general about the 18 sites around the Cape that Fledge vinifies.
Speed was of the essence for producers this year, with the harvest running between a week and a month early in places. The early and dry growing season combined with a handful of heat waves (including the hottest day on record for more than a century) led to one of the earliest harvests on the books in South Africa.
It was a short Christmas holiday period for South African winemakers, who had to be harvesting just a few days into January as the harvest came fast and furiously. Picking times and getting (and fitting) all the grapes into the winery became the important balancing act. For those who could keep all their balls in the air at once, 2015 is set to be one of the best harvests on record…
Read the full report at Wine-Searcher
