“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,
It shows the furthest Tree
Upon the furthest Slope, you know
It almost speaks to you…”
– Emily Dickinson
“Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity – in all
this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known, so far, to harbour life. There is nowhere else, at least in
the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not,
for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of
the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores
our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale
blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”
– Pale Blue Dot; Carl Sagan
O if we but knew what we do
When we delve or hew —
Hack and rack the growing green!
Since the country is so tender
To touch, her being sò slender,
That, like this sleek and seeing ball
But a prick will make no eye at all,
Where we, even where we mean
To mend her we end her,
When we hew or delve:
After-comers cannot guess
the beauty has been.
Ten or twelve, only ten or twelve
Strokes of havoc unsolved
The sweet especial scene,
Rural scene, a rural scene,
Sweet especial rural scene.
– Gerard Manley Hopkins
From the Winery
From today the limited production of the Kleinood Tamboerskloof Viognier 2019 will be available directly from the farm or online. is is the rst wine and vintage by winemaker, Reynie Oosthuizen, to be released from Kleinood and is, by all accounts, once again, in a class of its own and an all-time classic.
And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.
– Percy Bysshe Shelley
With December here and the holiday season in the air, our blood’s running Rosé – Katharien Rosé, to be specific. In celebration of all things sunny, we’ve decided to release our 2019 vintage of this delightful “summer-in-a-bottle” in time for sunset toasts and festivities.
From the Tasting Room
In stead of the boring, old thick craft bag you will now receive your, individually bought, wines in an old-school recycled paper bag – like back in the days…
The launch of our
Blacksheep
Table
Which is so private social media hasn’t even heard of it yet! You see, the first rule of the Black Sheep Table is you don’t post about the Black Sheep Table – exclusivity comes at a price. Drop us an email at marketing@kleinood.com if you’d like to receive updates regarding this very private curated tasting experience happening once per season.
Something Old,
Something New
Our Grandmothers made things from old broken things. Nothing went to waste – flour bags became moer-koffie bags and tea cloths, string and paper was kept and re-used, socks and jerseys were darned and hand-me-downs were not shameful. Kitchen refuse went to the chickens or the pigs or the garden. Everything was given a new purpose. You did not have to be poor or destitute to do that. It didn’t have a name, nobody made a fuss about it, there were no conferences held – it was just like that.
Now that the damage is done our fear and guilt is pushing us to turn the clock back and we are all trying our damnedest to recycle, to use less plastic, to eat and live responsibly. But it is hard for us – we have forgotten how to be careful and frugal. We live too fast, we need too much, we have too little time. Just like everybody else, Kleinood tries not to waste, to recycle, to use as little plastic as possible and to be mindful of our surroundings. We don’t deserve a pat on the back for that. It is how we are supposed to live.
When we prune, some prunings are saved to darn the sculptures in the forest. It is a peaceful quiet job. The forest is quiet and cool and it takes time; time to think and talk a little, time to just be outside doing something mindful, while listening to the water bubbling over the rocks and stones… It won’t save the planet or change the world, but it is a lovely thing to do.
The Trees
The trees are coming into leaf
Like something almost being said;
The recent buds relax and spread,
Their greenness is a kind of grief.
Is it that they are born again
And we grow old? No, they die too,
Their yearly trick of looking new
Is written down in rings of grain.
Yet still the unresting castles thresh
In full-grown thickness every May.
Last year is dead, they seem to say,
Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.
– Phillip Larkin
In ancient times, it was very common to graft olive trees. A branch from a good olive tree was taken and grafted onto a wild olive tree – a branch from the good tree would be grafted onto the wild tree by inserting a section of a stem with leaf buds into the stock of a tree. The upper part of the graft would then produce fruit while getting nourishment from the root system of the under-stock.
Because the Leccino trees have not been doing well, we decided, instead of replacing them, to graft other varieties onto some of them, thus not having to uproot the trees and wait for the slow-growing young trees to come into production. Thus, at the end of winter, we cut down every second row and then, when spring had set in we grafted new growth from the Frantoio onto the stumps – and held our breath. Now the buds are starting to show, new leaves are making their appearance and the old leaves dropping.
And so, hopefully, if they survive the summer, we will soon have stronger trees, bearing more fruit very soon. And perhaps make something good with something not-so-good.
“a leaf of grass is no less than
the journey-work of the stars,”
– Walt Whitman
Not so new and brand new…
To New Beginnings,
Kleinood
