When the days get longer…

The days are getting longer and the mornings are getting cooler meaning we are on the downhill side of summer and autumn is right around the corner.

It also means that it’s 'Harvest Festival’ time at a multitude of the wine farms here in the Cape Winelands. This year Rickety Bridge held its first ‘open to the public’ harvest festival and of course we had to go.

The Full Monty

The day started with mimosas and breakfast ‘snacks’. There were a multitude of croissant sandwiches to choose from, some savory, some sweet, along with mimosas made with some of the incredible Rickety Bridge bubbly. The night before the festival we attended the RMB Starlight Concert, a yearly tradition, and a little bit of the ‘hair of the dog’ was more than welcome at 8am.

After we availed ourselves of the snacks and drinks, the wonderful staff and the new owners of Rickety Bridge talked about the farm, the history, the day, and warned us not to snip our fingers as we were out harvesting grapes.

We headed out to a Merlot block with our extremely sharp scissors and an empty crate. All of us worked our way down the vines, snipping bunches (and maybe sampling a couple or three grapes along the way), working to fill our crates. It didn’t really take long, and soon it was time to head back in.

We all put our crates on the tractor and headed to the ‘stomping grounds’. Again we were greeted with snacks while the wine flowed like a river. We all gathered around our buckets and began to remove the grapes from the stems. We learned a little bit about not only why they’re removed (green stems make the wine bitter), but that in some cases, like Shiraz, the stems are dried out and then added to the fermentation process to impart some of their particular flavor. This isn’t done with Merlot, though, as the stems, even when dry, are still too bitter to use.

Initially I was trying to remove the grapes without squishing too many. Which, looking back, is rather silly considering we were all going to jump in the bins and stomp them.

The music, and the people, were just so joyous as we pulled the grapes from the stems.

Next was the stomping.

This was the part of the day I was most looking forward to…and let me tell you, it did not disappoint.

Kim and I laughed and danced to the music while stomping grapes in a bin that was almost up to our knees. I couldn’t stop giggling like a child the entire time. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life!!!

Finally, it was time for lunch.

The staff at Rickety Bridge set out a beautiful long table lunch in the cellar. We enjoyed spitbraai lamb with all the fixings and multiple bottles of wine.

After lunch, I got to talk with Springbok Rugby legend Os du Randt. What an incredibly nice and gracious guy for taking the time to chat with this American. I’m 6’2” tall and Os made me look puny.

Best. Wine Club. Ever.

It’s events like these, masterminded by Wine Ninja Lizzie Groenwald, that make Rickety Bridge our favorite wine farm and our favorite wine club by far. She and her staff go out of their way to put together experiences that are memorable.

Soon it will be time for their Potjkie event, and this time I’m gonna win!