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Oak Valley
Oak Valley
2026 – THE VINTAGE OF CONTRASTS
Someone asked recently what attracts me to winemaking. I told him winemaking is something you’ll never master, every vintage presents a unique set of challenges which forces you to adapt. The perfect vintage is a mirage.
The 2026 season had winemakers scratching their heads over the unusual conditions. One of the driest and warmest growing seasons (Oct to Dec) was followed by a cool and wet ripening phase and harvest.
In Elgin, spring and early summer were unusually dry, then as harvest started in Feb we experienced a big downpour followed by 6 days of light south-easterly drizzle.
Luckily, we had less rain than regions further along the east coast, but it still forced us to stop picking and wait for the soils and vines to dry out.
The warm weather that followed caused a sudden rise in sugar levels as the vines were invigorated after the long dry spell, which also added unwelcome botrytis pressure.
The perfect spring conditions over the flowering period meant that crop yields were generous compared to previous years, leading to long days and late nights in the winery to process our larger-than-normal crop.
It’s still early days, but we are excited about the quality of wines in barrel. It seems that the extra 7-10 days of hang-time the bunches had on the vines have translated into added depth and complexity.
The beauty of wine is to taste how the seasons translate into bottle – like a capsule for place and time.
11th May is a day that will be remembered by farmers for decades to come. We witnessed the immense power of wind and rain as the Cape was battered by a massive cold front. Our weather station registered an astonishing wind speed of 107km/h.
When the storm hit, our grape harvest was well and truly done, but we still had 15% of our apple crop on the trees. Elgin seemed particularly hard hit, and on Oak Valley there were at least 50-100 uprooted trees, major damage to our flower greenhouse structures and 1,500 bins of Sundowner apples left on the ground. A reminder that in farming one gambles with nature. Hortgro puts the agricultural damage alone at R6.3bn.
After licking our wounds, we got to work with the mop up and the farm is starting to look better. It’s the type of event that changes one’s perspective on risk and we will need to adapt in certain areas to limit future losses.
Before signing off, it is worth mentioning that our Groenlandberg Pinot Noir 2024 was released last week. With lovely aromas of red fruits, raspberry and cranberry and deeper earthy vegetal notes, the finish is long and cool, ending on fresh spearmint. Best enjoyed by the fire this winter!
Jacques du Plessis
Viticulturist & Winemaker
