Science vs Romance

March 4, 2023Once Upon a VineyardPinot Noir,Plettenberg Bay,oenology,quality vs quantity,the holy grail,seasons are all beautiful,birds,science,romance

One of the real challenges we faced when starting the vines was that neither of…

by Joanna & David

Ambivalence of Birds

January 30, 2023Once Upon a VineyardPinot Noir,Plettenberg Bay,quality vs quantity,the holy grail,seasons are all beautiful,birds

When we got onto the farm there were almost no birds. You’d see the occasional…

by Joanna & David

The WineMakers of Plettenberg Bay

January 14, 2022still wine,gift from the gods,Cedarberg Wine,ambrosia,Wine of Origin,anton smal,winemaker,Plettenberg Bay,Villeria,jaco van der watt,passion for wine,skills,cellar,cellar masterscap classique

by Joanna & David

The Holy Grail

January 14, 2022Once Upon a VineyardPinot Noir,Plettenberg Bay,wine farm,winemakers,wine harvest,quality vs quantity,wine growers,good grapes,the holy grail

Pinot Noir has been described as the “Holy Grail” of wine. It is the most…

by Joanna & David

Wine of Origin: Plettenberg Bay

January 14, 2022Wine,Wine of Origin,Plettenberg Baywine of origin

In 2006 Plettenberg Bay became a Wine of Origin Region with distinctive…

by Joanna & David

The Final Field

March 30, 2020Once Upon a VineyardPinot Noir,Plettenberg Bay,quality vs quantity,the holy grail,seasons are all beautiful,water,planting vines,the final field

Last year we flattened the old, leaking pond in the middle of the farm and we…

by Joanna & David

On Plumbing

March 7, 2020Once Upon a VineyardPinot Noir,Plettenberg Bay,quality vs quantity,the holy grail,seasons are all beautiful,water,plumbing

On a farm you have to learn to do a lot of things yourself and one of the…

by Joanna & David

Water

February 29, 2020Once Upon a VineyardPinot Noir,Plettenberg Bay,Grahamstown,quality vs quantity,water,JoJo tanks,more precious than gold,droughts,ponds

The trauma of living through the droughts in Grahamstown (now Makhanda) left…

by Joanna & David

The Earthworm Revolution

January 26, 2020alien vegetation,Once Upon a Vineyard,Pinot Noir,Plettenberg Bay,oeneology,seasons are all beautiful,birds,earthworms,moles,compost,vegetationcompost circles

Over the years we’ve had to do quite a lot of burning. We’ve never liked to do…

by Joanna & David

Absolute Certainty! Winemakers opinions

October 19, 2019Once Upon a VineyardPinot Noir,Plettenberg Bay,wine farm,winemakers,wine harvest,quality vs quantity,wine growers,good grapes,opinions

In my short wine-growing career I have been amazed by the absolute certainty of…

by Joanna & David