While many Cape winter days are cold and wet, our Manor House tasting room radiates warmth with its wood-burning fireplace and welcoming interior. Our team is ready to receive you for a first-class tasting of our premium and luxury wines.
Behind the scenes, our vineyard and cellar teams are fully engaged in preparing for the next vintage cycle. Gina, our viticulturist and her team are maintaining our vineyards and enriching our ancient soils. Our organic farming approach includes maintaining our cover crops during these colder months, which enhance sustainability and productivity by creating a resilient vineyard ecosystem. We encourage and maintain these cover crops in our vineyards:
Clover: Increases organic matter and soil structure while preventing unwanted weeds.
White Mustard: Ward off unwanted pests with bio fumigation properties.
Oats: Minimize soil erosion.
Radish: Creates air pockets to increase aeration of soils and helps with soil compaction. Oxygen is extremely important for the growth and health of microorganisms.
Rye: Adds biomass to the soil.
Lupins: Contain nitrogen fixating properties and attract beneficial bugs with their flowers.
These plants increase soil complexity and pass natural nutrients onto the soil, aiding in the healthy growth and development of our vineyards. In amongst our general upkeep of vineyard poles, wire and composting organic matter, our vineyard management also focuses on precise pruning, ensuring each cut is small and clean, keeping our vines vibrant.
In the cellar, Charles and Martin are well underway with our 2024 vintage. Each grape parcel is matured separately in barrels for 12-15 months, after undergoing malolactic conversion, resulting in a velvety, softer wine. The blending process for the 2023 vintage is also underway, creating the exceptional De Toren Bordeaux-style blends. These blends will further mature in the tank before bottling, which will remain in our cellar for another 6 -12 months.
For the lover of our Edition Z:
We think this will make for the perfect weekend pairing…
Get cooking with this Easy Ribeye Recipe from Jamie Oliver.
