February 29, 2012
I had an FDP today to two wine vineyards in the Stellenboch region in South Africa. I bought two bottles of wine and me and my friend enjoyed the bottles on the way back to the ship. I couldn't believe that I was getting class credit for a wine tasting! I tried every kind of wine at each vineyard, even the brandy at Backsberg.
This is an excerpt from my field journal entry:
"Wine is something that brings people from different races and cultures together." They are not permitted to add cane sugar, but they can add sugar that is produced from the grapes. At no point are they allowed to add any type of sugar. White and red grapes are harvested at different times of the day because of the varying heat sensitivity of the grapes. The amount of time needed to ferment also varies between white and red grapes. Whites ferment at 12 degrees Celsius in about 6 days and oxygen is controlled to a minimum. Reds ferment at a higher temperature, take less time, and produce more heat as a byproduct. To control the wine making process, different varieties of yeast are used in the fermenting process for different types of wine. Consistency is very important between the different batches of wine because of the customer base. Nelson's Estate exports to mostly European countries, so the marketing is mostly geared towards them. They never say it is a 'cheap' wine, they say it is a 'better priced' wine. There are three different labels so they can enter three different levels of the market. At the tasting, he wanted us to find the different flavors within the wine. Everyone was told that they would find a different taste because we are all from different areas of the world. This is a great example of the New World way of looking at wine, by using our taste.
Backsberg Estate Cellars first produced grapes in the 1600s and early 1700s. In 1916, Charles Back bought the farm and started producing wine. Michael Back is now the third generation of proprietors and his son is currently learning about wine at university. The speaker in the tour focused on environmental sustainability and the different flavors within the wine. The terrior in South Africa is warm, so they bought land in a cooler climate in order to diversify the kinds of grapes they can grow. Making wine starts in the vineyard by knowing when to pick the grapes. There are certain wines you cant make large quantities of and still keep the quality.
Backsberg exports to the United States, Canada, Europe, some African countries, China, and in some countries in the east. The company knows that wine is a very fashionable thing and with the change in fashion comes the change in tastes of wine. South African wines are known for their drinkability now and ability to keep a little while since they are new world wines. The French oak barrels are used for about three falls before they sell them to a smaller winery that reuses them. "The terrior matters because it controls the taste of the wine". This is a European abstract notion that the region affects the quality of the wine. It was obvious that the environment mattered a lot to Backsberg estate, mostly because the conditions around the grapes change the terroir of the wine. During harvest time between January and April, they taste the grapes to see what are the best possible qualities and those grapes go into the family reserve.
Backsberg related mostly to the European market but was able to adjust for us, as New World consumers. They adjusted their descriptions of the wine from terrior to taste. In 2006, Backsberg became one of only three wineries in the world to achieve a Carbon Neutral status. This is evidence of their commitment to sustainability and the love for our environment. "The enjoyment of a great bottle of wine should never be at the cost of the environment", said Michael Back.
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