Winemaking

The Greek civilization was preoccupied with predicting the future. To satisfy their questioning, they devised a pragmatic rather than theoretical principle. A third of the future can be determined by the human intellect and the remaining two thirds is indeterminable.

Complete prediction removes the human character of our lives. We would simply function and become machines.  If the future held complete uncertainty we would not be able to function, we would be adrift with no sense of purpose.

What does this have to do with winemaking?

Crafting wine, you constantly need to make choices. Every one of your decisions has consequences on the evolution of your creation.  If you intervene in such a way that you are 100% sure of the result, then you may make good wines but unlikely great wines. The world of processing and industrialisation is thus entered – a world where everything tastes the same. On the other hand, by total non-intervention (through ignorance or stupidity) the end result will most likely be a disaster. The wine will have no drive and lose its essence. We believe that the path to creating fine wine is to guide the wine in an informed and diligent manner, to provide a direction but to allow within this frame something unknown to occur. This is where the soul of fine wine is formed – 1/3rd, 2/3rds. 

Our practises are chosen following these guidelines with a preference for those that steer towards finesse and complexity:

• 100% hand harvest
• Triage (sorting) at the winery
• Whole bunch and some skin contact for whites
• Cold soak red and white
• Indigenous fermentation when possible
• Ageing on 100% gross lees
• Design and use of special ‘cigar’ tanks
• No chemical manipulation
• No fining, minimal or no filtration
• All red and some white made without Sulphur Dioxide (SO2)
• Manage redox potential (natural anti-oxidant properties) of wine
• Use powerful tool of blending

For further detail on individual wines, please refer to tasting notes in the Resources section.