Yay, it’s april! That means spring in Europe and it means harvest in the Southern Hemisphere is done and dusted! All wineries and wine farms have their grapes in and probably the grapes are already becoming wine! 2017 wine year in the making. Probably released from July-August onwards. I always enjoyed harvest time in the Cape a lot and today I will show you some harvest related photos…..

Rise and shine! Early morning, the crates are empty and ready to be filled… Most grape picking is done by hand in South Africa. Hard work yes, but in the end it’s better for the grapes, better for the quality, and it provides many jobs for the local people of South Africa, which is great.
Hello beautiful soon-to-be-wine!
Vineyards in full leave means: we are almost ready for picking.
Grapes grapes grapes….
Grape squeezing, the old fashioned way. I loved doing this! And look how tanned those legs are….

Harvest

South Africa is a wine country pur sang. The seasons are the other way around than in Europe, so spring starts from October, summer from the end of December and harvest time is Feb-March, just before autumn. Some wine farmers already decide to start picking in January, when the summer was hot and dry (always in SA) and the grapes are ready (otherwise there will be too much sugar in the grapes and the wine will become too sweet). But some wine farmers decide to wait long, especially for the red – they always wait with the red – and only pick somewhere end of February or beginning of March. But in general, most wine farms will make sure their grapes are safe in the warehouse before he end of summer, definitely before end of March. And then they can start on their new release, the wine making itself, new life, a new wine year. To do the same all over again next year. How exciting! I love farm life in SA!

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