Baby bunches of cold, tiny-berried Cabernet Franc grapes fall with relief into the destemmer; ”no more days in the hot sun”. Mario is the one with the earpiece.

Why do we grow Cabernet Franc when no one has ever heard of it?
Everyone knows Cabernet Sauvignon. Do you know anyone who doesn’t know what Cabernet Sauvignon is?
Even Mother.
Maybe that’s why we planted Cabernet Franc 4 years ago. It’s one of the reasons at least.
Another one is that it tastes different. It doesn’t taste wild.
Sauvignon means wild in the Frenchies language. Cabernet Wild.
There’s a wild, grassy flavour in many Cabernet Sauvignons and if you’re a fan of a white variety called Wild White, you’ll find the same vegetable flavour there. Or at least you’re supposed to.
Cabernet Franc is Cabernet without the vegetable bits.
In keeping these diary notes, I’ve had to record that our Cabernet Franc has put in a claim for a new world record for vines grown at 33.5 deg S. for the interval between onset of flowering and harvesting (yesterday)of 120 days.
We had a little party to celebrate, then the power went off, and with it the cooling, the pumps and the press. We’ve had a week of this. Cold fermentations become warm. Other fermentations could start in hoses.
We have great hopes for our Cabernet Franc.
We would plant more right away. But our Cabernet Franc vineyard is ohsoclose to our biodiversity, untouchable virgin bush (fynbos) land and we have to study the impact first.