Since our first vintage, Haute Cabrière has specialised in the exploration of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes.
After 35 harvests, we continue to love this magical time of year and the promise of a new vintage. As thunder and rain mid-March heralded the start of Autumn, the team at Haute Cabrière is busy picking the last of the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes for the 2022 vintage, and we’re sharing how this year’s harvest has unfolded…
Harvesting great wines in 2022
This year, our harvest began the last week of January – far later than usual. This was because of a cold and wet winter (with plenty of snow on Franschhoek’s mountains), followed by a cool and damp spring which extended well into December. Our vines benefitted from these colder conditions with grapes ripening slowly developing more complex flavours and promising well-structured wines, whilst maintaining a low pH. While we awaited the beginning of harvest, our cellar wrapped up some important work from the 2021 vintage with the bottling of the Pinot Noir Réserve 2021 in early January after it spent 10 months in barrel. This is fast becoming one of my personal favourite wines from the Haute Cabrière Range.
The second week of February brought a drastic change in weather and a severe heat wave descended on the winelands accelerating the ripening of the grapes. Our teams leapt into action and picking began soon after. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes for the Pierre Jourdan Range of Cap Classique were picked first, ensuring the correct sugar concentration, acidity and balance in the grapes for exceptional Cap Classique production.
Over the past few weeks, tonnes of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir have passed through our cellar for the three ranges produced by Haute Cabrière. We have been thrilled with the quality we have seen to date, and the intense flavour concentration of this year’s yield. Our teams are harvesting the last of the grapes for the 2022 vintage over the next couple of weeks. Our Pinot Noir grapes for the reserve and Haute Collection wines are being allowed a little longer to ripen to ensure full potential of sugar and flavour.