introduction
Glenwood is located in the little-known valley of Robertsvlei, close to Franschhoek. The farm and winery are surrounded by aspects of outstanding natural beauty. This vineyard has been developed 33 years ago and has now become a leading South African wine producer and export to 12 different countries around the world. The Glenwood vineyard is planted with 30 hectares of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Merlot and Shiraz. The majority of Glenwood soils are Clovelly and Sandy Lime with a depth of five to six meters.
Being surrounded by mountains, GlenWood has its own micro climate with temperatures about five degrees lower than in the main Franschhoek valley. In addition, they receive a share of winter rain normally in excess of 1600mm annually. Their prevailing summer winds are from the south-east which resulted in their vineyard row layout being north/south which maximises the vines' exposure to the sun during summer months.
WORK time
During this day, we were welcomed by Natasha Pretorius, one of the winemakers of the farm. We helped her to sample berries from grapes in order to test the sugar level to determine the ideal harvest time. We also carried bunches of grapes in the destemmer to remove the stalks and bunches from these grapes. We then added yeast to the previously pressed grapes, 30 grams/hL, and we eventually bottled some of their wines.
Finally, we got the great opportunity to taste many of their wines: find out more in our tasting article!
