December 2011

Dear Friends

This time of the year reminds me of the story of the schoolboy, who, when asked where his Dad worked, replied “No my Dad doesn’t work – he’s a farmer!” It seems to be assumed by many that the only time we work is during the vintage, which, admittedly, is a frantic period, but there is something to keep us busy all year long. Currently we are shepherding our vines along, trying to produce healthy and flavourful grapes come harvest time. This entails meticulous canopy management, disease control and judicious irrigation practices – all part of our farming job! What we have no control over is the weather, but this is looking good for the moment, and we haven’t had the strong and damaging winds this year that have been common recently.

In the winery we are busy getting the 2010 red wines into bottle. This is a laborious job as we have to taste the wine from each and every barrel (about 500 barrels for the 2010 reds) and then make decisions on where the wine from each barrel should go. It’s actually a satisfying job, especially this year as the wines look fantastic. We are doing the same with the wooded white wines, and they too are looking great. All this work requires to be completed before the new vintage, which we anticipate to begin in February next year.

No matter how busy we are, we would still love to see you in the tasting room, should you be in Stellenbosch.

The Thelema team would like to wish you all a happy and peaceful holiday season.

Until next time.

Warm regards,
Gyles