The Wellington Harvest Festival took place this past weekend and I spent it pouring the Klein Optenhorst Pinot Noir Cap Classique 2009, grapes from my parents-in-law’s property that they own in the area and the wine made by Graham Beck’s Pieter Ferreira.
When Chris and Andrea Mullineux of Swartland label Mullineux Family Wines paid a surprise visit, I took time out for a catch-up chat. They reported that 2011 harvest was earlier and shorter than normal, begun in late January and finished inside three weeks – as is becoming the norm in the district, they’re aiming for lower alcohols and greater freshness. Andrea, meanwhile, is two months off giving birth to a sister for two-year-old JZ, and consequently confined her consumption of the Klein Op bubbly to a tasting portion only.
