Following the start of harvest on the 9 January at Nederburg, it has been an intense and busy time for the entire team.

According to Zinaschke Steyn, assistant red-wine maker, the white varieties such as Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc are coming in first and fast, so she is still patiently waiting for the majority of red grapes to start arriving for her to jump fully on board. So far, Nederburg has only received about 300 tons (about 3% of the total red grapes to be harvested!) of Pinotage.

In-between the harvest, the red wine team has also successfully blended the 2019 vintage of Baronne in a matter of four days! This is a record time for the red-wine team and the analysis came out “perfect”, according to Zinaschke.

As this is only Zinaschke’s second harvest at Nederburg, she is particularly excited for the Cabernet grapes to start coming in: “We have a few special blocks and parcels that give me goosebumps when tasting and blending throughout the winemaking process. I also enjoy working with the not-so-familiar cultivars such as Nebbiolo and Tempranillo,” she explains.