We recently completed the 8th harvest of Vrede en Lust's modern era! The 2009 harvest is looking very exciting and may be the best harvest of the decade. It was preceded by a surprisingly cool spring and early summer.

At the cellar door, we enjoyed an record breaking season under the passionate guidance of my wife Anneke and Elzanne Geldenhuys. Thanks to so many of you, who have visited and supported us, we have consistently rated amongst the top Cape winery experiences at Spit or Swallow.

The harvest started on the 3rd of February, with our Chardonnay on Vrede en Lust and ended on the 24th of March with the Cabernet and Petit Verdot from our Ricton vineyards. In total we harvested 750 tons of grapes, 250 tons of which we sold to other wineries.

We operated the winery at 100% of capacity for the first time, although we will only use about 40% of the wines made ourselves. This allows Susan to select only the best of our grapes for Vrede en Lust wines. Once all of the vineyards are in full production we should harvest about 1,200 tons of grapes.

We had a great harvest team on board, with Jason Holman joining us from Napa and Oliver Herzer from Germany. In addition Ansonè Fourie joined us for a second harvest  and ended up as our full time assistant-winemaker.

Susan's summary of the 2009 harvest notes the anger, frustration and loss of having to rip out 4 hectares of 12 year old Cabernet Sauvignon vines, that was sold to us a 'certified virus free' in 1997. Those vines should have been at peak production now, but the leaf-roll virus infections was so acute we no choice but to destroy them.

The '09 Sauvignon Blanc blend has been made up and is our first 100% Elgin Sauv Blanc! It includes 9% Semillon from our Casey's Ridge vineyard and the early indicators are fantastic. The wine will spend time of the lees ahead of bottling in July.

Susan describes the wine as "Gooseberry tang with underlying minerality. quite an impressive length with a fresh acidity. I thought it also showed juicy passion-fruit and some green-apple.

The team recently finalized the Jess 2009 dry rosè blend:  70% Pinotage & 30% Shiraz. The wine is "Bursting with boiled sweets and the typical aromas of Strawberry, Cranberry and watermelon. Crisp and clear on the palate with a brilliant light pink colour" in Susan's words.

The reds are still busy undergoing malolactic fermentation. It looks like the season may have favoured Merlot, Shiraz and Malbec over Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cabs came in with high levels of malic acid, so difficult to access them properly until the malolactic fermentation is done.

Can't say too much about it yet, but there is a very special Malbec that has just finished its fermentations and likely to win a lot of hearts early next year. Watch this space! In the mean time we are getting ready to release about 200 cases of the 2008 Malbec. Lots of fruit and as smooth as silk!

We have finally launched our Vrede en Lust Wine Club in South Africa. The club offers members the option of quarterly or bi-annual shipments with 5 different wine selection plans. It makes it very easy to stay current with our new releases in the convenience of your own home!

Benefits include special discounts of up to 20% on our wines, free delivery to the major metro areas, accommodation and special allocation of our limited release wines. Members are also invited to special members-only events, including the annual Wine Club party at Vrede en Lust.

On Sunday the 8th of March we celebrated the first De Savoye Day at Vrede en Lust. On De Savoye Day, we celebrate the new harvest and more than 300 years of proud history, with grape stomping, entertainment and of course food and wine. Jacques de Savoye founded Vrede en Lust in 1688 - 321 years ago this year! The day was a great success with more guests than expected.

We have started planning next year's event already, having learned a great deal hosting our first event. Next year's De Savoye Day will be on the Saturday before the Argus cycle tour and we will start marketing a limited number of 150 adult tickets at the start of December.

Children will be welcome and we hope to raise the bar significantly. The Cotage Fromage will do the catering for next year event which will allow us to put more effort into wine & fun! Wine Club members will get booking preference of course.

Wiena, Yolanda, Duncan, JP and team are just about done with the highly successful 08/09 wedding season. They have been very busy, taking bookings all the way to the end of 2010. It is really amazing to see how far in advance some couples plan!

The size of the average wedding has come down in line with the global economy. Looks like distant aunts, uncles & cousins are being left off the invitation lists for now. The goal is to have the most amazing wedding celebration possible and it has worked out perfectly in a tough economy.

From now until the end of September, we will extend a 50% discount off the standard rack rates for all of our accommodation offerings. We offer online reservations and for peak times like weekends, the upcoming Franschhoek Literary Festival and the annual Franschhoek Bastille Festival, it is best to book early to avoid disappointment!

Vrede en Lust is the proud wine sponsor of the very innovative Col’Cacchio Pizzeria Celebrity Chef Series. Six top chefs have been selected to flex their culinary muscles in the Col’Cacchio Pizzeria Celebrity Chef Series; a gourmet charity project that aims to raise funds for the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital.

Under the guidance of Col’Cacchio's Kinga Baranowska, chefs Reuben Riffel, Mike Basset, Citrum Khumalo, Rudi Liebenberg, Margot Janse and Philippe Wagenfuhrer, will rise to a challenge beyond their beliefs in a pizza adventure to ‘create a culinary masterpiece.’

The chefs have worked with Susan to match a Vrede en Lust wine with every gourmet pizza. The wines will be on offer per glass or by the bottle. For 6 months, diners will have a taste of what each celebrity chef has brought to the table.

Every month will showcase a different chef’s masterpiece on promotion. With every special gourmet celebrity pizza sold, R5.00 will be donated to the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, and 100% of these funds will go towards the purchase of specialised surgical equipment for the new Operating Theatre Complex currently under construction at the Hospital.

Etienne and his team is getting ready to plant 3Ha of Grenache on the lightest soil at Vrede en Lust, so soil preparation is underway and planting will commence in August. We are hoping to plant some Pinot Noir and Riesling on the coolest parts of Casey's Ridge next year. We have 6 Ha set aside for these cultivars, but getting the right clones on the right rootstocks is a mission.

We will close the tasting room and the Cotage Fromage on Mondays, from the start of June until the end of August.  We will still be open for the rest of the week, so please come by when you visit our beautiful valley!

We will close our Hospitality business for the month of August to give our staff a well earned break as well as for the annual maintenance process.

We will participate in the following events during the next 6 months and look forward to seeing many of you there:

• Johannesburg Wine Show - 29 to 31 May, Gallagher Estate
• RMB WineX  Cape Town - 9 to 10 Sep CTICC
• Bastille Festival - 11 to 12 July, Franschhoek Town
• Uncorked Festival - 10 to 11 October, Franschhoek Valley
• RMB WineX Johannesburg - 27 to 30 October, Sandton CC

Warm regards
Dana & the Vrede en Lust team

Vrede en Lust: Passionate for more than 300 years
Tel +27 21 874 1611
Fax +27 21 874 1859
Web www.vnl.co.za Twitter djbuys
 

PS If you do not wish to receive this newsletter anymore, please reply with DELETE in the Subject line.