The 2014 vintage produced a big crop on the back of a fairly big crop in 2013. So, of course, ever since last spring every winemaker has been staring into their personal crystal ball trying to see what the 2015 season will bring.
  
I was pretty startled when I realised this will be our 17th harvest at Durbanville Hills - followed by the staggering realisation that in 2018 we shall be celebrating our 20th vintage! I’m not alone in my surprise. The response of everyone I mention this to, is the same: “How’s that possible? The place has just been built!” To me, it feels like yesterday when tankers filled with cement trundled up the hill from the cement quarries below.
   
And suddenly I realised we'd missed a major marketing opportunity: To tell the world that the unique terroir of our area is cemented into the very walls of our cellar; that for the grapes arriving here it is like a home-coming, a return to the very soil they had been plucked from! (OK, not quite, but you know what I mean.) And to see how our young wines are flourishing as they develop in synergy with the surrounding walls (why do I think my imagery is getting rather confused at this point?).    

SO WHAT DO WE EXPECT?
  
Like so many young winemakers I was exposed in my younger days to the knowledge and experience of old greybeard farmers who'd seen many a vintage come and go. Living close to nature, they'd often talk about wet and dry cycles spanning ten to twelve years. These cycles would peak in the middle, at roughly the six-year point which would be either the wettest or the driest in the cycle, with a moderate two to three years on either side. What causes these cycles no one knows for sure, although meteorologists speculate about AAO (Antarctic Oscillation), increased jet stream winds, and ENSO (El-Nino Southern Oscillation), to name a few.
  
I can’t claim to understand all of this. What I do know, is that we have just experienced our third ideal winter in a row with water tables high and dams overflowing. Many winemakers will agree that a good harvest often starts with a good winter and that we are currently in an active wet spell. There was a sufficient number of cold spells during July to ensure proper dormancy while spring started with a warm August that shook the vines out of their winter sleep and ensured very even bud-break and initial growth.
  
September, October and November gave us everything from moderate spells with single scorching days in between, strong but not storm winds that would damage the vines, and the occasional cool spell. In my view, fruit-set was better in the case of the early-budding varietals with the later varietals having looser bunches that will result in lighter crops.
    
When I peer into my crystal ball I see a smaller harvest than the previous two but one delivering grapes of great quality. I also foresee much pressure and lots of tension in the cellar, for I believe the picking season is going to be short, punctuated by intense peaks.
   
THE STORY SO FAR
   
The first of the Chardonnay grapes have already been delivered at the cellar, prompting some to claim this is the earliest we have ever started pressing. No, it’s not, but people have short memories. I clearly remember our maiden vintage in 1999 when tractors with trailers laden with grapes were wending their way around rows of tankers lining up to disgorge their loads of cement. And that after we had been assured the builders would be off the site well before the start of the harvest.
  
WILL THE LIGHTS STAY ON?
  
A problem those grizzled old farmers did not have to cope with in their day - well, maybe the odd one on a Monday after an intense weekend in the rougher parts of the Winelands - are blackouts.
  
Due to the inconsistency in supply, early on we identified areas where we could reduce our dependence on electricity. During the day the cellar’s interior is now bathed in natural light since we installed sunlight harvesters in the roof. Our generator can also power most of the equipment used during harvest time while the power-hungry cooling compressors are run only during off-peak periods.
  
First prize would obviously be a consistent power supply. Way back in second place would be Eskom sticking to its published load-shedding schedule. However, as I write, the power just went off half an hour before it was supposed to. Thank goodness for the auto-save function on Windows.
  
SEE HOW IT'S DONE
  
During February and March our ladies are offering tours of the cellar on Wednesday nights so visitors can experience first-hand the frenzied activity as trucks and tractors arrive at the presses. The cellar visit is followed by a tasting and a picnic under the old olive trees or in the tasting room, should the Cape Doctor (aka the south-easter) be causing havoc.
  
Staff have been instructed to be on their best behaviour, a necessary precaution in my view for I’m always reminded of an embarrassing experience years ago when I was still working at Groot Constantia.
  
There the pressing cycle often finished during the lunch hour when I was alone in the cellar. The press was two levels below the fermentation cellar and as the last wine was pumped to the tank, I had to run up the two flights of steps and around a sharp corner at the lab to switch it off. On one of these frantic runs I lost my footing, falling heavily. I jumped up, did what I had to and swore vilely while inspecting bleeding knees and elbows. It must have been the sudden unnatural silence that made me turn around - just in time to hear a shell-shocked tour guide telling a group of foreign tourists "and that's our winemaker". Thank goodness the swearing was all in Afrikaans!
  
So, to whom do we raise our glasses on this very first occasion in the New Year? My vote goes to the 2015 harvest. May the enormous promise it holds be realised in the wines we are to make!
   

Prost!

MARTIN MOORE
Cellar Master