In South Africa @AYAMA! 11 February 2016
Since the 13th of November 2014 we did cherish the +- 4.000 Vermentino vines we planted with all our passion and love. It wasn’t an easy job, we had to look after each one and see how they were adapting to new life. Attilio basically took care of them personally… many evenings coming back from the vineyard with his sore back, he was just saying that he wanted these vines to grow perfectly and not willing to delegate any job around them till they would be strong enough. We hardly wanted this variety to be planted in South Africa, no matter what it took us. 6 years of “painful” expectation before the go ahead for planting. Finally we could and now … here we are!
The VERY FIRST HARVEST.
Memorable as the planting will be for ever in our books. Not many bunches of course, just enough to test how is going to look in the future. We decided on a clone from Sardinia as it is a perfect match for Voor Paardeberg, which is hot and windy and features mostly clay soils with sandy areas from disintegrated granite. The berries and bunches are large and the grapes are late ripening, all of which fit in perfectly with the existing varietals on the farm and the harvesting schedule.
The VERY FIRST MUST.
The varietal produces aromatic white wines, fruity and fresh style but it can handle also wood aging giving you a beautifully powerful wine. We had a “little” taste from the mother block last year. Few litres… but we did enjoy playing thumbnail wine-making.
This year more serious game. And history starts.
Keep tuned… we have more surprises around Vermentino coming soon!
Ayama team
