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Always Another Harvest

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Please select from the thumbnails below to view the full size image and accompanying text discussions.

Taken from the top most spot of our vineyards, the properties in the distance are owned by our neighbors. The numerous rows of windbreaks (trees) indicate it is much windier on the valley floor; our vineyard is largely protected by low hills to the south that deflect the "southeasters" above our grapes ... most of the time.

We added this photo to give some sense of the width of the Breede River Valley at this juncture, the extent of the mountains to the west, and the vineyards climbing up their lower flanks. We used to have the highest plantations around but now are but one of several growers who have incurred the expense of planting as high on the hillsides as practical. Why? Because this is where we get the highest quality wine grapes. Our side of the valley is superb for reds and the other side, shaded earlier in the afternoon from the setting sun, is better for whites.

The Roos family lives adjacent to our front gate so they are very aware of all the comings and goings of people to our vineyard. Anton Roos can also see most of the hillside plantings from his patio so he can observe the stage of work being accomplished during the day, if he is not on the hill at that moment. While we have very responsible workers, nothing replaces careful supervision, especially at time of harvest. (This photo is probably from 2002, judging by the fact many of our fields had not yet been planted.)

The mountains to the north of our property look like minarettes at times like these. It probably rained later that evening, but with a lightshow like this, who cares about the weather?

When you farm grapes in the mountains, the weather can vary significantly from day to day. This autumn evening it was quite cloudy as the sun set, but the next day broke with a clear blue sky, and the harvest continued in perfect weather.

General Manager Anton Roos plants a seed mixture of rye et al between the rows. This adds to the overall fertility of the vineyards but does require management. We roll all the grass flat in the spring so it does not steal moisture and can combine with the soil.

Above the bodam (upper dam), we are looking at our Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc blocks in the Spring.

September is Spring in South Africa and the weather is still chilly and rainy most days.The vines have awoken from their winter dormancy and the buds are starting to form shoots. Later the vines will flower, self fertilize, and the grape buds will form; all of this is needed before a grape crop can be matured.

Cabernet Sauvignon is usually the last variety to mature and harvest, but in 2004 we had both Cab and Shiraz hanging until the very end. One big problem was our principal winery could not process grapes as fast as needed, so the farmers had to delay their harvests. The longer "hang time" may have increased quality marginally but it also contributed to berry shrivel and decreased our delivered tonnages by at least 10 tons. You can also see the leaves starting to turn brown.

World-wide, Cabernet Sauvignon is generally known as the King of Red Grapes. It is the noblest of the Bordeaux cultivars and produces the most elegant of long aging wines. The skins are tough and the bunches fairly loose, so if it is rained on, usually the moisture drains out and no damage is done. On the other hand, Cab is invariably the last to ripen and harvest can be very late in the season. (In California, we have actually picked Cabernet as late as Thanksgiving, at the end of November!)

Sugar is just one of the several physical aspects of maturing grapes, but it is perhaps the most important. Most wineries do not accept your grapes unless they have attained agreed sugar minimums, and most want higher sugar levels, and exceptional fruit concentration that comes from long "hang time." But finally the day arrives that we have to pick NOW.

When the grapes are ready, our normal workforce has to be increased quickly with people who want to work hard. Oordman Dirks lives in the nearby town of Wolseley, and one of his jobs is to line up sufficient pickers and bring them by truck to the vineyard early in the morning, and return them at the end of the day. However, starting in 2008, our need for harvest labor decreased markedly with our acquisition of a harvesting machine. It was timely as fewer and fewer of the local people are interested in picking grapes anymore.

Braud is a French-made grape harvester; we purchased a late model used one in 2007 and used it successfully for the 2008 harvest. While we can use machine harvesters on about 70% of Silkbush, they can't be used on all blocks. First, the steepness of some of the slopes would tip the machines over and if we have unevenly ripening bunches, the machine cannot discern between bunches we would prefer to leave hang longer.

By the way, Anton, our vineyard general manager, is also our ONLY harvester driver so far. This first year, 2008, he wanted to make sure everything went well, and driving this machine in the dark (starting around 4 AM) is a very serious and demanding job. The damage to our vines that a poor harvester pilot could do is not what we want to even imagine!

Poppie is hard working and very reliable. She is one of the people we count on to set a good example in the fields. When the grapes are ready, we need to be able to pick as many as 50 tons per day for one or more wineries. 50 metric tons is a lot of careful picking, carrying of heavy boxes, lifting them into gondolas, and repeating the process hour after hour in the hot sun. Few people are really willing to do the work on a consistent basis.

Starting in 2008, our need for seasonal grape pickers was decreased substantially when we purchased the Braud harvest. This is all well and good, as we were having a difficult time getting enough people from the local community of Wolseley who wanted to work. A relatively recent government financial support program has negatively impacted the work ethic and motivation to a major degree. Thank goodness we have reliable people like Katrina who we can always count on.

Our staff is really like our "family ,"as happy and hardworking as workers can be. Here two of the guys are completing the removal of vines, grape stakes, and irrigations hoses before we replant the block.

In the Western Cape, women are used seasonally to prune the grapevines in the winter and to help with the harvest. Normally they clip off the grape bunches into the plastic lug boxes, and the men carry the heavy boxes to the gondolas towed behind the tractors. For all concerned, the work is hot, dusty, and strenuous.

The bunches are cut off the vine with sharp knives but you first must be able to get to the bunch. Perhaps a third to half of the bunches are on the other side of the vine or wrapped in between canes that making access to them difficult. Most of this "picking" is selecting the bunches, cutting them off, and dropping them into the crates; the majority of the pickers are women and they are fast to fill up a box.

As the women reposition the empty boxes, the men carry the 20 kilo crates filled with grapes to the waiting gondolas.

A full box probably weighs about 45 pounds and all the teams are paid based of the number of boxes that are dumped into the gondolas.

While our workers are of all ages, the harvest is very strenuous. This young chap does not look like he has an ounce of fat on him.

Most of our fields are not super steep, but the grade is unrelenting! We layout our vineyard blocks so the pickers do not have to carry the full boxes an excessive distance, but it is still hot and dusty work. The row of big rocks in the background were all dug out of the fields by tractors and then moved to the side before the vines were planted and the grape stakes installed.

As the gondola gets closer to being full, the grape boxes must be lifted ever higher. Anton helps his much shorter workers loft the last heavy boxes onto the almost full gondola.

While our resident employees, other than management, work a 45 hour week for salaries, the rest of our workers are paid by the hour. Therefore, this modern time clock is quite helpful. Each worker has his/her own "key" which is touched to a small tube that usually reposes at the top of the board. The software system does the rest. Each employee who is involved with the harvest has their own pruning shears used to sever the grape bunches from the vines. Don't lose them!

Jan is our most senior tractor drive, (although officially retired now) and during harvest he maintains the "blue tube," which is part of our compensation control system. Before each box is dumped, each employee's "key," which hangs around their neck, is touched to the tube. Its advanced technology, along with the personal computer, keeps track of each team's daily total boxes without having to have a paper trail. Much as in California's vineyards, the workers are paid on a piece rate basis, which can increase their hourly pay significantly.

While he is the second son, Francois does not take a backseat to his older brother. He loves tractors and can't wait to be able to really drive one. Notice his John Deere overalls.

Samuel, from Lesotho, drives the gondola-pulling tractor, while Anton's youngest son, Antonie, learns the business first hand. The three year old seemed right at home.

The harvester's two side bins are usually completely filled after two rows and then they need to be dumped into our gondolas. In addition to Anton as driver, there is a worker who rides on the harvester to make sure the grapes are being deposited properly and a tractor driver who prepositions the receiving gondola at the end of the next row.

The harvester obviously straddles the grape vinerow and the grapes are vibrated off the vines into belts that lift them into the side bins. It looks (and sounds) quite strange to see a harvest being brought in without 50 or more people in the fields, talking, laughing, and running the lug boxes to the gondolas. Clearly mechanization is reducing the number of seasonal jobs while taking much of the hardest labor out of farming.

Tegniese Dienste means "Technical Services" in Afrikaans.

Only our most senior and responsible workers, such as Willem shown here, are permitted to drive the tractors. Working on hillsides with heavy equipment is serious business, and the loaded grapes represent our entire year's efforts.

A flatbed truck has been positioned to take on gondola loads of harvested grapes. Silkbush purchased hydraulic grape containers for trucks which hold about 8-9 tons of grapes; the hydraulic gondolas, which haul at least three tons of grapes, will be pulled onto the loading ramp by tractors. Three gondola loads go onto each truck, and then Anton or his assistant will drive the truck to the winery.

Since this gondola load will be the last needed to fill up the truck's container, Anton and his boys are already in position. It won't take long to dump the gondola, and then they all will be off for Wabooms. From this photo you can also easily see the hydraulic system for side dumping the container at the winery.

With the top of the ramp well above the waiting truck, the gondola's side dumping system is very efficient. Nobody other than the tractor driver is required to load up to four tons of grapes onto the truck in just a few seconds.

From this position of the gondola box, the entire load of grapes spills out in just a few seconds. The grapes on the bottom of the truck's container have already been crushed by the weight and a fair amount of grape juice will pour out at the crusher. So it is now very important to get the load into the winery without delays. (Incidentally, the pear trees at the rear of the photo belong to a neighbor, not Silkbush. We are out of the tree fruit business.) These side dumping gondolas are very efficient and we own three that work in the field, and two more larger ones for the trucks that go to the wineries. We bought one more in 2007 as our increasing harvests required it. As of 2009, we are at perhaps 93% of full vineyard maturity and are consistently harvesting well above 1,000 tons each year.

Jan watches about three tons of grapes go into a similar but three times larger gondola on the waiting truck. These side dumping gondolas are very efficient and we own three that work in the field, and two more larger ones for the trucks that go to the wineries. We bought one more in 2007 as our increasing harvests required it. As of 2009, we are at perhaps 93% of full vineyard maturity and are consistently harvesting well above 1,000 tons each year.

It is key to have as short a "cycle time" as possible. If there is not a gondola in the field, the pickers fill up their crates and then must wait until an empty gondola has arrived. Piece-rate workers can get quite testy if things are not going efficiently.

In every grape growing area of the world, the tension between the grower and the winery is most manifest as the grapes are delivered. If the winery has any sort of glitch in the processing grapes, the lineup at the scales can get very long and return of the trucks or tractors to the farms delayed. This backup will delay the pickers and everybody's temper gets short.

Literally, "Wagenboom Wyn" translates to WagonTree Wine; the name of our local wine cooperative is Waboomsrivier, or Wagontree River. Direct wine marketing is not their thing: 98% of the wine is sold in bulk to other wineries and wine marketing companies. Once the loads of grapes have been weighted, then they line up for sugar testing, and then ultimately for dumping into the winery's crushing and destemming machinery.

This powerful auger dives into each bin containing the delivered grapes and takes a highly representative sample cross section of the fruit about to be dumped into the crusher. Each grower receives a printout of the average sugar level of the grapes he just delivered to the winery; most wineries pay their growers on a number of factors, but the absolute level of Brix (percentage of sugar) of the grapes is one of the most important of the criteria.

As Robert Montgomery and Dave Jefferson said hello, Dave was thinking (but did not say) "you have an awful lot of leaves in that load of grapes, mate!" In CA we insist that our workers absolutely minimize MOG (Material Other than Grapes). That includes leaves, mud, rotten grapes, stones, or anything else. Each farmer earns his reputation at each winery partly based on how clean the fruit is when delivered.

These guys are winemaker interns from one of the agricultural colleges, working the harvest. Their jobs at harvest are to make sure that all the grapes get out of the gondola properly and into the crushers, that there is little MOG (Materiel Other than Grapes), and any bunches that fall on the ground are quickly picked up. Small but important tasks. They are taking a dusty fruit and planning to convert it to a sanitary beverage in short order.

One of the big delays in winery operations is the 7-10 day time it usually takes to ferment a tank of grapes. This new system from France, which uses a huge vacuum tank to extract all the color, tannins, and other good stuff from the red skins at the start of the process, had just been installed for the 2004 harvest. It reportedly reduces the fermentation cycle by 50%, to 3.5-5 days, and even increases wine quality. This may reduce winery bottlenecks very dramatically in the years to come.

The weight of the grapes higher up in the gondola crushes the grapes on the bottom and therefore there is a lot of grape juice the comes out first. Because grapes are covered with natural yeast, it is important the entire load gets into a winery quickly before spontaneous fermentation is allowed to start in non sanitary conditions.

Most stainless steel tanks look about the same, but there are some clever design ideas incorporated in this winery. The large tanks in the center are self evident, but on the sides there are two rows of smaller tanks, one stacked on top of the other. Many times wineries need smaller tanks but they often take up the same building "footprint" as larger tanks, forfeiting the volume above. By stacking tanks, you do not require an excessively large winery building and still retain the ability of doing smaller fermentation lots.

This "hose coupling incident" occurred at a neighboring cooperative winery Dave Jefferson visited one Saturday afternoon. Such crises can and do occur at virtually all wineries, but perhaps more frequently at older facilities where fairly large quantities of grapes are being processed. (We at Silkbush were relieved that they weren't our grapes on the ground and wall, and that it didn't happen just as we walked by!) The Cellarmaster, an old friend, was a bit more upset because the workers were not sufficiently attentive.

The custom is still to pay all workers on Friday night IN CASH! So Anton and Franci have to make up the payrolls and have the cash proper and in the envelopes by Friday at quitting time. (Six year old Francois Roos looks like he is unhappy he isn't getting paid!)

The dry fertilizer is added to our drip irrigation system. As the season drew to a close in 2004, we were running quite low on water, but fortunately we had enough to be able to do a post harvest fertilization for our established vines. (As you can see from the small size of the just-planted block behind him, a number of vines certainly did need fertilizer.)

We wash out all the grape gondolas every evening after the last load is delivered. The insides of the gondolas are covered in sticky grape juice, and natural yeast would start fermenting the sugar water in short order. The grape juice will also attract bugs and birds; we don't want any of that whatsoever.

A number of temporary workers are only with us a week at harvest, and then we may never see them again. Only their faces, once captured on film, remain behind.

Willem is our key tractor driver. We appreciate the hard work and Aubrey and Willem who are two of our permanent staff. The dedication of our vineyard workers means so much...

Saahie is another of our regular and trustworthy workers.

We get such a kick out of high spirited Samuel!

Thabo is one of our regular workers from the small mountain kingdom of Lesuto, Thabo lives on Silkbush and is an irrigation specialist.

This group of girls worked the '05 Harvest, picking grapes by hand, high in the mountain vineyard. While the majority of Silkbush grapes are picked by machine, the grapes on the highest blocks, especially the Pinotage, always have to be picked by hand into 20 Kg crates.

Here is Zakkie, having a little snack of grapes at the end of a hot day.

Dagga, by the way, is South African slang for marijuana, which is also grown and used widely, as the climate is ideal for cultivation.

This chap has a string of knit caps to wear, even on the hottest days. You will find most of the South Africans to be cheerful and interesting.

Loved having his photo taken

Some 75% of our mountain water is sent to neighboring vineyards further down the hillside. We had been encouraging the beneficiaries of the water system to line the ditch to prevent water loss; so in 2014, two pipes were installed to reduce water loss even further.

The only way you can have sharp shadows on our eastern mountains at sunset is when it is bell clear to the west. This was such an evening in April 2004, as we neared the end of our first good sized harvest, over 550 tons. (As of 2007, we are doing over 1,200 metric tons as more blocks attain maturity and we are 99% planted.)

Every sunset seems to be different, depending upon the clouds (or no clouds), the season, or the mood of the watchers. But this one was just glorious. Come to the Cape and see for yourself! We even treat all first time visitors to an evening of pizza and beer at the nearby Calabash Bush Pub, the closest adult watering hole, just over the river and west of the Bergsig Estate winery. Come on by and work on your Afrikaans, as English is definitely the second language there.

SOUTH AFRICA VINEYARD OFFICE: PO Box 91, Breerivier 685, Western Cape, RSA
Tel: (27) 083-629-1735 or email: [email protected]
Kingsbury Cottage Guest House Rental Information: Tel: (27) 083-629-1710 or email: [email protected]
USA OFFICE: Public Relations, Social Media & Marketing: Lisa O’Connor Email: [email protected]