Vintage Reports
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Bein Merlot 2010
The Bein Merlot 2010, harvested March 23-25, is a worthy successor of the previous two vintages. It might look gimmicky, but in fact we are very excited about this fantastic row of great vintages we had at Bein Wine - 2008, 2009 and now 2010! However, quantity was significantly down, with a yield of not even half a bottle per square meter...
In this vintage, also other varieties produced excellent wines in Stellenbosch, and we were again tempted to get some decent partners for our Merlot. After countless trials and blind tastings, we decided to spice up our 2010 Merlot with some excellent ripe Malbec from our neighbourhood, and a tiny splash of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Together with the maturation in French oak barriques, the wines developed a beautiful complexity. According to their different origins within our vineyard, we could distinguish and bottle once again three different Merlots:
- Little Merlot 2010: The fruit from lusher parts of our vineyard, the use of older barrels and a gentle egg white fining prior to bottling promoted the fruity sides in this Merlot, offering early drinking pleasure; 3400 bottles have been produced, bottled 4.5.2011, released in June 2011 (Product sheet Little Merlot 2010)
- Bein Merlot 2010: The best combination of our different batches and matured in 50% new French barriques, this wine convinces with balance and complexity; bottled on April 20, 2011, only 3900 bottles have been produced from this vintage, to be released by mid 2012 after another year of bottle maturation in our cellar.
- Merlot Reserve 2010: deriving from the "heart" of our vineyard and matured in 100% new French oak barriques, this wine is rich and full-bodied. 1600 bottles were bottled in April 2011 and allowed a further year of bottle maturation till its release by mid 2012
Analysis :
- to be released when the wines have
been certified.
Vintage Report 2009-2010
Winter 2009 was a typical, normal Cape winter, with generally milder temperatures and good long rains. And also with those wonderfully sunny, crystal clear days, which are so special to the Cape, and which makes pruning, our main vineyard job during winter, such a relaxing experience.
As
an effect of the milder winter, budding started timely with begin of
September, though a bit more uneven than usual. An infallible sign of
spring are also the swallows, returning always in time to their nests on the
fascia board of our winery, and all the other birds nesting and breeding
in vineyard and garden. Also "our" dikkop family is back, this time with
two chicks that hatched on the 19th of October (see picture)
Early summer, i.e. November, started off on a bad note, with lot's of wind and lots of heavy rain - unfortunately right at the beginning of flowering! Luckily, the rain stopped during the main flowering, though the strong winds went on till December. For many farmers, this season will be remembered as challenge in combating fungal infections, but thanks to modern technology, we could keep it down on our farm. On the other side, the temperatures were throughout moderate, and the untimely rain filled the soils up to field capacity, making any irrigation superfluous until veraison.
Early summer is also the growing season, which keeps us very busy in the vineyard, with suckering, shoot positioning, tipping and, eventually, crop thinning. This year again, this was mercilessly done by cutting out every second bunch in order to improve the quality of the remaining fruit - naturally, we couldn't know yet that the crop will be miniscule anyway, although our estimates showed a decrease in quantity!
Exactly on the very first day of January 2010 we saw the first signs of veraison (change of colour) as herald of the ripening season. Ripening itself was characterised by slightly above average temperatures and some few sporadic, but insignificant showers during February. March however was unusually warm, and the plants got quite exhausted from the continuously dry and windy weather.
As novelty, we decided this year to harvest the lush parts of our vineyards (defined by Precision Viticulture) two weeks earlier in order to vinify it as Rosé only. This allows us to match harvest timing to the specifique requirements of the rosé, i.e. for lower sugar, fresher flavours and crispier acidity.
Harvest of the grapes for Bein Merlot 2010 started
eventually on March 23. Rain was announced, so we hurried to get
everything in within three days, but it stayed dry as before. Moreover, the crop was significantly smaller than expected, but - it
must be said - of excellent quality: smaller bunches with smaller
berries, thicker skins, tougher pulp, and accordingly less juice!
As it appeared later-on, the harvest was down in the entire area of
Stellenbosch and the surrounding wards, mainly due to the influence of
wind and weather, in some cases also due to losses caused by downy
mildew.