From vineyard to glass
From picking, sorting and stomping grapes at the farm, to trotting the globe with a bag of bottles- year one at Waterkloof has been special! Check out some of the photos here.

Get your hands dirty
I believed (naively) that “hands (nearly) off” winemaking would be somehow easier than following the conventional approach. What did I know? It turns out that it’s tough making wine the Waterkloof way: Hand picking low-yielding Grenache, staying wary of sun and snakes, loading onto horse drawn carts to rest in the cool cellar (the grapes, not us), meticulously sorting the berries, foot treading whole bunches (whilst avoiding deadly CO2 gas), filling barrels, cleaning tanks, checking the natural ferments are coming along… some days were hectic in the winery. It is great fun though, and that glass of something crisp, refreshing and satisfying at the end of the day tastes all the better for the efforts exerted!

The work done in the cellar during those two months is important, but amongst the vines, it is vital all year round. Without a healthy balanced vineyard at our disposal, we’d have a lot more work to do with the grapes in the winery. More than anything, my first harvest at Waterkloof helped make sense of another memorable and provocative Paul Boutinot quote: “If you don’t have the site, forget it, you will simply die withered and frustrated by man’s limitations against the might of nature.” Place over process!

People and places
The wines will be on a few more tables this Christmas, with us having secured distribution in Canada, USA, Denmark, India, Sweden and Hong Kong. That means I’ve been far and wide in 2011 and had the pleasure of meeting some great people along the way. Sincere thanks to those of you who have made me feel so welcome in your countries. Please feel free to take a look at these photos of some of the people and places that have made 2011 so special. I’m really looking forward to making some more friends in far-flung places next year.

May you eat, drink and be merry this festive season and remember: Life’s too short for bad wine!

Cheers!
Louis