Farm Stories

Harvest 2022 Lord: it is time. The summer was immense. Lay your shadow on the sundials and let loose the wind in the fields. Bid the last fruits to be full; give them another two more southerly days, press them...

  There was dirt once, an entire earth That clung to our bare feet when it rained, Scorched them when it hadn’t, Coated our arms when it rose With the dry, furious wind. How obvious, I thought then, That it...

John Steinbeck writes on January 1, 1941: "Speaking of the happy new year, I wonder if any year ever had less chance of being happy. It’s as though the whole race were indulging in a kind of species introversion –...

“Meanwhile, in this blink of existence bookended by nothingness, we busy ourselves with survival and with searching for beauty, for truth, for assurance between the bookends. The feeling of that search is what we call meaning. Suffering — biological and...

“A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period — When March is scarcely here A Colour stands abroad On Solitary Fields That Science cannot overtake But Human Nature feels. It waits upon the Lawn,...

I Midwinter spring is its own season Sempiternal though sodden towards sundown, Suspended in time, between pole and tropic. When the short day is brightest, with frost and fire, The brief sun flames the ice, on pond and ditches, In...

Wine and Weather (Is that not what wine farmers talk about?) The first grapes on Kleinood were harvested on Tuesday 22 January, when we picked the small amount needed for the 2019 Verjus, which was then bottled three days later....

Packaging Awards Tamboerskloof Katharien Rosé “Congratulations on your success in the Harpers Wine & Spirit Design Awards 2013. I’m delighted to confirm you’ve achieved a SILVER medal for the best-designed rose! There were only 2 medals awarded in total for...

Too many things have been in the way of writing this newsletter. Right now, it feels as if it should still be March or, at worst, May, but definitely not November. We started so many projects and so many things...