Vineyards

We currently have around 110 ha under vineyard and additional satellite vineyards in two other areas. Our vineyards are located along the slopes of the Simonsberg Mountains, mid way between Paarl and Stellenbosch and some 40 minutes from Cape Town.

We are blessed with a wonderful climate; full sunny days in the summer and cold wet days in the winter – a great location to ‘grow’ wine.

For us the key to producing high quality fruit lies in the word ‘balance’. This word must apply in all our decisions from site selection, to style of trellis, canopy management and irrigation.

A question often asked by other growers of each other and wine writers of growers, is what is your yield per hectare. For us at Backsberg this question has been consigned to the bin and replaced with the question what is your yield per square meter of canopy. Given that the canopy or the leaves are the “factory” of the vine that ensure fruit concentration and ripeness, the issue is not yield per square meter of surface area but rather yield per square meter of “factory” that is balance.

An additional change in our thinking over the last number of years is to say that at the all critical time of harvesting we don’t simply harvest ripe fruit, but rather fruit form ripe vines. The holistic view again – all the aspects of the vine must show ripeness.