Last year we decided to try our hand at making wine. Good friends have Pinotage and Shiraz grapes on their farm. Between the four of us we harvested, hand sorted de-stemmed and crushed enough grapes to make 3 barrel of Pinotage and 2 barrels of Shiraz. We bottled the wine at the end of January 2012.
Our bottle label was designed by my good friend Bonnie (@kloud). We called the wine The Landro Collection – named after our beautiful male German Shepherd who passed away last August. His face appears on the label. We then named the individual wines after our current family of mutts. A stand alone Pinotage called Kaela (pedigreed German Shepherd Dog), a blend of two different Pinotage barrels called Skye (Australian Shepherd x Border Collie) and a 50/50 blend of Pinotage and Shiraz called The Pixie (100% mixed breed!). The Shiraz we boringly called Shiraz!
I'm from Tulbagh, Western Cape, South Africa. Tulbagh is a small farming community.
Get Pushed Challenge: I have been doing this challenge on and off...
@orangecrush They are all very nice. The Kaela Pinotage has 2 local wine makers very excited but we only made one barrel so we cannot enter it to see if it would win awards!
I don't know how I missed this one. Love the story. You know the series of flowers is all about your friend. Every once in a while she sends an email update. I feel sooo sad and hoped the flowers would cheer her up, even if it were just for a moment.
@hown I know she has quite a soft spot for you! And your flowers are just a wonderful tribute to her, brings a lump to my throat just thinking about them! If you ever feel the need or desire you can contact me via email (sally.ings.15@gmail.com). I will do my best to ensure that you are kept in the loop should she not be able to do it herself!
@salza A former coworker makes his own wine but never talks about the process he uses. The one bottle I bought was very sweet like a dessert wine. Too sweet for my taste.
I clearly missed this one, and it looks fabulous! What an impressive label! All said and done, it might be easier to buy what you like, but it's an experience you can say you had, and what a great bottle to display forever!
@skipt07 it certainly is a labour of love. Our set up - which was on a friend's farm - was very small. We only made a total of 5 barrels (around 220 bottles per barrel). The wine itself was all very good and two of the winemakers in the valley (both of whom have won international accolades) were very impressed with the quality of the wine and even wanted some bottles for themselves. @Weezilou thanks Louise. It was 7 years ago that we made our wine. An experience that we will never forget. It was great being able to drink (and receive compliments) wine that you toiled over.
March 31st, 2018
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@steeler Maybe a plan can be made...
@Weezilou thanks Louise. It was 7 years ago that we made our wine. An experience that we will never forget. It was great being able to drink (and receive compliments) wine that you toiled over.