Almost exactly two years ago we released the first Cloof Cellar Blend – an outrageously concentrated wine made up of the bits and pieces of press wine randomly collected by our cellar hands. Following the success of this wine, especially in Germany, we produced a successor in 2004. It has now spent the requisite 12 months in French Oak (at least 25% new), was bottled last week, and will be available for sale from 16 June.

Wine people like to associate an estate with a flagship – usually its most esteemed or awarded wine. In the case of Cloof, this was traditionally our Pinotage, on the basis of being crowned South Africa's Champion Pinotage in 2001. We do agree that Block 16 (planted in 1976) from which we make the Cloof Pinotage does give a wonderfully concentrated, and yet elegant wine.
 

This is the time of year when we sow a cover crop in the vineyard rows. We do this to get more organic material into the soil, which improves its structure. Rains have been steady throughout May, and were kickstarted by a storm that deposited in excess of 100mm over one twelve-hour period in April.

10 May 2005
It is with great excitement that I share my experiences of the last 24 hours. During an extended power failure yesterday I took a walk around Cloof, and came across a most impressive crop of mushrooms. Fortunately I had a digital camera with me, so I photographed them from every angle. Even more fortunately, there was still battery life left in my laptop, so I was able to connect to the internet. A Google search quickly gave me the contact details for the mushroom expert at the National Department of Agriculture, and within minutes Adriaan Smit had images of my funghi find in his inbox.

Two years ago, when we were developing our new ranges of labels, Dusty Road seemed an ideal brand name for our drink-now range. The uniqueness of the wines from Cloof lies partially in the extreme concentration of the reds; the product of bush vines producing, on average, a mere 4.5 tons per hectare. The conditions during summer are hot and dry, and there is no irrigation to boost the size of the crop (or to dilute the flavours of the wine). Gravel roads inevitably become dusty, and anyone who has visited Cloof can testify to the sometimes bumpy, but very definitely dusty 5km road by which one approaches the estate.