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DEAR FRIENDS
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Only 90 hectares of the 200 at Morgenster
Estate are under vines and olive trees. We
preserve and where necessary we restore the rest
of the land to the natural vegetation.
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We took out all alien plants along the Lourens River and
replanted with over 200 indigenous and endemic
trees and on the Schaapenberg mountain behind
our cellar, we took out alien plants and are
encouraging the natural fynbos to re-establish
itself. If you do not know the word fynbos, it
covers the wide range of plants in the Cape
Floral Kingdom. This is the smallest of the
world's six floral kingdoms but it is the
richest in species. We have been recognised for
our efforts by the Biodiversity & Wine
Initiative (BWI), a pioneering conservation
partnership with the South African wine industry
www.bwi.co.za.
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At the beginning of March wild fires burnt out
of control for five days around the Cape
Peninsula driven by strong winds and over 5000
hectares of vegetation, mainly fynbos, was
burnt. Then a couple of days later fires broke
out in the Jonkershoek Valley near Stellenbosch
and headed over the mountains towards the
Helderberg and in our direction. Our staff were
out damping down our thatched roofs and staying
on high alert. We are very grateful to the
firefighters, both full time and volunteers, who
turned out at great risk to themselves, to
control the flames.
Apart from this anxiety, we had something
wonderful to celebrate in early March. Our
Morgenster Reserve 2001 was one of 10 red wines
to receive a Bacchus Trophy in the Taj Classic
Wine Trophy 2015. This was the only early
vintage among the red winners. The other reds
came from vintages 2011-2013. But I let Henry
tell you about it elsewhere in this newsletter.
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Ciao!!
Giulio.
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FROM THE VINEYARDS
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Morgenster Reserve 2001 was one of 10 red wines to receive a Bacchus Trophy in
the Taj Classic Wine Trophy 2015. This was the only
early vintage among the red winners. The other reds came
from vintages 2011-2013.
Henry Kotzé, Morgenster's
winemaker explains: "The judging panel was comprised of
French sommeliers and judges who come to South Africa
for this competition. They were looking for wines with
an Old World style of elegance and potential for
maturity in line with the wines they punt in their
European restaurants. A Bacchus award for our 2001
Morgenster flagship is a tribute to Giulio Bertrand's
strategy which he conceived 15 years ago to make wines
which could age well. |
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"It takes a big investment to make well aged wines
accessible to consumers. As most wines are bought to be
drunk immediately, Giulio Bertrand took on the
responsibility of ageing his own wines by releasing only
a small portion of each vintage in the fourth year after
harvest. He holds back the rest to mature in pristine
conditions in his cellar. Each vintage is then tasted
annually by our winemaking team and consultant Pierre
Lurton from Chateau Cheval Blanc, and then released in
batches to demonstrate its progress. Making some of the
best sommeliers and wine judges in the world sit up when
they tasted Morgenster 2001 bodes well for its
performance in the European market!".
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THE OLIVE CELLAR
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The first of the early ripening
olives are being harvested. In
days gone by olive farmers would
bring their olives to a central
press and then stay there
overnight to ensure that they
got the oil from their own
olives. From that point of view
little has changed. During the
olive harvest on Morgenster,
Chris, who manages the olive oil
production process, and his
staff, still spend a great deal
of time at the factory until the
day's extraction process is
completed. The aim is to take as
little time as possible between
harvesting and extraction.
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SUMMER SALAD
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This month,
Angie Boyd of Sense of Taste
Culinary Arts Cooking School in
Maitland Cape Town, shares her
recipe for Summer salad of Black
Forest ham, ricotta, rocket and
melon with gooseberry ginger
dressing.
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