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Winemaker's Journal
March 2004
Hi everyone,
We are 60% of the way through harvest. Next week we expect Pinotage from the Swartberg Mountains (could this be the latest ripening Pinotage in the country?) and Cabernet Franc from the foothills behind Ashton in Robertson.
Then there will be a few quiet weeks before the Cabernet comes in from Elim and Constantia. Finally, the Shiraz will ripen in the Swartberg Mountains and we can start winding down the 2004 crush.
Our cellar has been running for 24 hours a day, seven days a week since the last week of January. We have at least another 40 days and 40 nights to go. This sort of pace and commitment is only possible if you have the ability and opportunity to elevate your work onto a different philosophical plane.
It is probably easier for winemakers to do this year in and year out, because it is essentially a natural, creative process. It has built-in rewards that defy capitalist standards of business and our modern societal value systems. There is a sort of internal furnace of self-motivation in most good winery teams that burns bright – like a young advertising company on-fire with creativity or a human rights movement ablaze with self belief.
In some wineries you can sense the confluence of nature and people. Not one swamping the other, but that rare synergy of the two. Wineries that work combine improbable forces; they are happy factories.
Recent Awards
 Wine magazine has just chosen our Strata "Ruby in the Dust" 2002 red blend as their Editors Choice. Fiona MacDonald had this to say about it:
"Bruce Jack has done it again, offering a blend of Ruby Cabernet, Merlot and Shiraz that appealingly combines velvety mouthfeel, lovely fruit and choc flavours. Miss this one at your peril…"
This wine also received * * * * 4 stars in the John Platter Wine Guide. It is probably impossible to resist at R38.50 per bottle, delivered Free by the case in our metropolitan areas – outlying areas only a bit extra – contact us for a price.
New Releases
 Jack&Knox Winecraft "Frostline" Chardonnay 2003.
This wine is from a very special vineyard that is over 1000m above sea level in the spectacular Swartberg mountains about 700km drive east of Cape Town - one of the most easterly vineyards in South Africa. To access the vineyards you can drive up the Meiringspoort Pass or up the Swartberg Mountain Pass. The latter is my preferred route. It was built between 1883 and 1886 by our most famous engineer, Thomas Bain. It is visually addictive and beautifully improbable, like the winding road up to a Princess's cloud-veiled castle.
Frost is a constant threat during the growing season because of the plummeting temperatures at night, but of course this also means there is the reward of intense flavours, high natural acidity and more balanced, quicker phenolic ripening.
Four or five times a summer the frost alarm rings (usually at 3am) and fires are lit in the vineyards to counteract the horrendous damage possible.
The farmer, Guillaume Swiegers, also breeds and raises ostriches, but has to sell them before they are 6 months old because they get stunted by the cold nights and don't grow taller than a metre.
It is a good 11 hour round trip by car to get there and back, so I sometimes fly up to the vineyards during crush. The problem with this rather romantic image is George Airport, which doesn't have the sophisticated radar systems needed for landing in heavy fog - the same omnipresent coastal fog that claims aeroplanes all the time. The last high profile crash killed our favourite cricket scoundrel, Hansie "the devil made me do it" Cronje. On more than one occasion this year we had to circle for an hour above George until the ground temperature warmed to over 18 degrees C and the fog lifted enough for the pilot to fly into the white frothy soup and attempt to spot the runway before hitting it.
This is not only a labour of love, but a nifty way to conquer any fear of flying. Hey, when the grapes are calling, you have to follow...
The Jack & Knox Winecraft label is a joint venture between Flagstone and Graham Knox winewriter, wine marketer and extreme vineyard trophy hunter.
Available by the case (you can mix this case with other Flagstone wines) for only R384.00 per 6 pack
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FOUNDATION RANGE
| WINE |
VINTAGE |
UNIT PRICE |
Noon Gun
Dry White Blend |
2003 |
R27.00 |
Heywood House
Barrel fermented Sauvignon Blanc |
2002 |
R54.00 |
Two Roads
Chardonnay |
2001/2002 |
R71.00 |
Semaphore
Rose |
2002 |
R27.00 |
BK5
Pinot Noir |
2001 |
R90.00 |
Dragon Tree
Cabernet Sauvignon & Pinotage |
2001 |
R75.00 |
Writer's Block
Pinotage |
2002 |
R90.00 |
Music Room
Cabernet Sauvignon |
2001 |
R112.00 |
The Poetry
Collection Pinot Noir |
2000/2001 |
R178.00 |
STRATA SERIES
| WINE |
VINTAGE |
UNIT PRICE |
The Glass Carriage
Chenin Blanc |
2002 |
R55.00 |
In Cahoots
Pinotage/Merlot |
2001 |
R74.00 |
The Heartbreak Grape
Pinot Noir |
2001 |
R75.00 |
Ruby In The Dust
Ruby Cabernet |
2002 |
R38.50 |
Rumour
Mill Viognier |
2002 |
R55.00 |
THE BERRIO
| WINE |
VINTAGE |
UNIT PRICE |
| Sauvignon Blanc |
2003 |
R55.00 |
| Cabernet Sauvignon |
2001 |
R88.50 |
JACK & KNOX
| WINE |
VINTAGE |
UNIT PRICE |
Green on Green
Semillon |
2002 |
R53.00 |
Frostline
Riesling |
2003 |
R53.00 |
Frostline
Chardonnay |
2003 |
R64.00 |
The Outsider
Shiraz |
2002 |
R103.50 |
BOWWOOD
| WINE |
VINTAGE |
UNIT PRICE |
Bowwood
Cabernet/Merlot |
2002 |
R74.00 |
CELLARHAND RANGE
| WINE |
VINTAGE |
UNIT PRICE |
| Back Chat Blend |
2002 |
R33.00 |
| Chenin Blanc |
2003 |
R22.00 |
PRIVATE CLIENT, ALL PRICE ARE VAT INCLUSIVE
These products are sold by the dozen (12 bottles) ONLY
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Remember
We deliver by the case free of charge in all the major cities of South Africa. If you are overseas, contact us to see TOO MUCH SPACE HERE
If you want more details about joining the Flagstone Club, please email Monique or myself for details on: marketing@flagstonewinery.co.za
Yours sincerely,
Bruce Jack
Flagstone Winemaker
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