Rico Suter
Country: South Africa
Father and son Winemakers, Rico and Carlo Suter speak of something of their perspectives on winemaking.
Rico Suter:
We try to produce organic grapes, not using insecticides, no inorganic fertilizer; even our irrigation water is distributed by a gravity-fed system out of storage drums higher up against the mountain slope. Fertilizing is done post harvest with chicken manure-enriched compost. Additionally, we cultivate in the winter months (our rainy season) a mulch crop of rye which is only cut when fully ripe. Over the years, this has created a rich strata of topsoil accommodating various beneficial insects. Another benefit is the high population of earth worms (aeration of the root zone).
Harvest is all by hand: job creation on one side, bio-friendly treatment of the environment on the other.
In the cellar we rely mostly on natural yeast, brought in with the grapes from the vineyard. Fertilization in oak, open-top fermenters with manual punching down of the grape must -the old, traditional way. After the alcoholic fermentation, transfer into Barriques for malolactic fermentation. Once completed, the wine is then racked into the cooled cellar for maturation of 12 to 26 months according to the cultivar and style of wine. Eventually, our matured wine is bottled in our cellar an the bottles stored further for another year until the winemaker is satisfied that the product is ready for consumption.
This makes for healthy wine.
Regarding the wider social health, all of our staff are housed on the farm; there is a social infrastructure of a nearby primary school, a clinic. Our longest-time employee has been with us since 1971!
Problems that exist in the area (one must recognize these in order to combat): Aids, Alcoholism. These are having their origin in the history of South Africa and need concerted counteraction of all of us.
Carlo Suter:
In the winemaking I am attempting to pare down activities to the minimum that is necessary and possible without my considering to be interfering in or neglecting the process. Each year we have progressively used less commercial yeast to initiate and complete the fermentations (none applied this year). Commercial food grade yeast nutrient additives are not added unless absolutely required (based on analysis combined with gut feel). Instead I have been trying to rather work with temperature control as well as correctly timed traditional aeration of the must (one or two pump overs) to help the indigenous yeasts on their way and promote gentle, but not excessive extraction in the wine. I also use sulphur judiciously, often not adding any until after the naturally completed malo-lactic fermentation. This year this general approach seems to have worked very well. Most of the fermentation takes place in traditional wooden (oak) vats (steel tanks are also available) and maturation is in small 225l French oak barriques.
The vineyards are managed according to the South African IPW requirements (Integrated Production of Wine). Since 2001 the vineyard inter-rows have had dense cover-crops which are not sprayed off in spring, but rather allowed to ripen and re-seed for the following year and the birds. The cover-crops themselves provide a haven for insects and birds (including birds of prey) and other smaller animals as well as improve soil structure and protect the surface from the harsh African sun. In addition to this, thick straw mulch has recently been laid directly beneath the vines to maintain cooler soil temperatures and improve the affectivity of the necessary drip irrigation in high summer. I am convinced (as a result of the dry and windy climate and attention to detail) the viticulture can be taken a step further in the organic or even Bio-Dynamic direction if this is undertaken thoughtfully and with conviction.”