​After a long break, we gathered again on a cold winter evening to taste and celebrate the fine red wine made from Mourvèdre grapes. These grapes are believed to have originated in the Spanish town of Morvedre (now Segunto) near Valencia. They were bought to Provence (France) in the late Middle Ages, where, prior to the invasion, it was the dominant varietal. What invasion do we speak of? The famous phylloxera louse invasion that transformed French wines forever.

In the late 1800, the tiny little louse devil was, unknowingly, bought into Europe by Victorian-era botanists, through American native vines. By 1878, the louse had destroyed 370 000 hectares, while another 251,000 hectares were dying. At that time this represented 25% of French vineyards. By 1895, as the louse marched northwards, it had reduced French wine production by half. The only way to save the vineyards was to graft French grapes onto American root stock that had been successful in their native land at fighting off the louse. By the end of the 19th this hybridisation had solved the devastation. So, yes, the French wine industry was threatened and then saved by America! However, this was problematic for Mourvèdre that did not graft easily onto the existing phylloxera-resistant American rootstock. This meant that it lost popularity in France and was replaced by other varieties. 

Today, Mourvèdre is dominant in southern Rhone where it makes an important part of the GSM blend (Grenache, Shiraz Mourvèdre) or Rhone Blends. It is most dominant in the Bandol AOC in France where 50% of all wines must be Mourvèdre. The old French saying goes that, “Mourvèdre needs its head in the sun, its feet in cool soil and a view of the ocean.”

In Spain, Mourvèdre is called Monastrell and is the fourth most widely planted red wine grape variety. In South Africa, the area of Mourvèdre in 2016 was 473ha which is growing steadily. Most of the grapes are found in the Swartland (32%).

If you enjoy Cabernet Sauvignon then Mourvedre is in a similar camp, producing full-bodied, highly-tannic and rustic wines which have flavours of blueberry, blackberry, plum, black pepper, violet, rose, smoke, gravel and meat. I can’t say that any one of us gurus found all those flavours exactly but we did enjoy this lovely, winter red liquid. It has become my winter wine of 2022 and is lovely enjoyed in front of a warm fire. Remember it is best enjoyed decanted or open for a bit to let it air. Its not easy to locate but I highly recommend making the effort.

2021 Swartland Winery Mourvèdre Limited Release, R75
NV Caravel Wines The Liquid Sword R 150,00 Breedekloof (2020 and 2019 vintage)
2017 Joostenberg Mourvèdre, R195, Paarl
2019 Saronsberg Mourvèdre R230, Tulbagh
2018 Waterkloof Mourvèdre Circumstance R225, Stellenbosch
 
And then just to keep things interesting, we included a Cabernet Sauvignon to check if any of us could pick it out in a line up.
2019 Arendsig Cabernet Sauvignon Blok A9, R185 Bonnievale
 
As usual, our resident statistician removed the highest and the lowest to give us the rankings:

And the winner was Joostenberg, closely followed by the Liquid Sword and Swartland. We do love that Joostenberg label and is definitely built to last. Not surprisingly, only the show off, Master Value, was able to pick out the Cab Sav which we thought was just a huge fluke!

​As mentioned, locating these special wines is not that easy. I highly recommend my favourite online shop, the winecellar which has made many monies off me because of their amazing range of local and international wines and also their great filter options and website organisation. 

​The Liquid Sword definitely gets a big shout out for the coolest label on any wine that I have seen to date. This wine is hard to locate and sells out quickly which is understandable given the price and quality. Double bonus is that if you buy a case, you get 6 different kung-fu style wine labels. This is my type of wine! My perfect weapon of choice to arm oneself through a boring party, family gathering or just a long cold, winter evening. Get yourself a liquid sword this winter before they sell out!

​Climate change is a difficult topic. The ripple impact of climate change affects everyone, not just farmers. There has never been a better time to understand the consequences of climate change. With technology as an enabler, we now have a better understanding of climate change and how to address it.
Metos SA approached Strawberry Hill Farm to install a weather measuring station as we were located in an area where they had insufficient data.  Metos SA is a South African-based research organization that focuses on managing food security and providing holistic sustainable agricultural solutions. Metos SA and Terraclim launched climate-smart agriculture (CSA) campaign to establish 200 weather stations across the Western Cape. The goal of this project is to better understand the constantly changing weather conditions in the Western Cape. Aside from analyzing the weather, weather stations serve as an infield decision-making tool.

​This blog outlines the background of the Climate-Smart Agriculture project (CSA) and the value of gathering weather data.
The CSA Eureka project involves the installation of over 200 weather stations in the Western Cape and included a significant amount of scientific research, both locally and internationally. Weather stations have been strategically installed over the Western Cape, following an extensive scientific investigation from well-established research departments. Since 2021 the CSA project has been growing to better understand weather and climate change in the Western Cape. Strawberry Hill is proud to be one of these stations.
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​As illustrated in Figure 1, the project involved multiply stakeholders. Pessl is an Australian weather monitoring solutions provider that uses disease modelling to meet the needs of farmers. It investigates the environment, host plant, and other factors that influence the existence of a disease. Pessl has over one million stations with 220 000 sensors placed in 85 countries, and 145 experts. Not only does it provide jobs, it also has a positive impact on the worldwide position of agriculture by using technology to support food security and predict weather patterns.
Geo-smart and the Centre for Geographical Analysis have undertaken years of study at the University of Stellenbosch and focus on analyzing integrated data resources to provide access to precise climatic and terrain conditions. Geo-smart converts imagery into relevant data about elevation and erosion risk. While the Centre for Geographical Analysis focuses on the application of geographical information systems (GIS), satellite remote sensing and other geographical-analytical techniques in carrying out its research, training and service provision functions. The Terraclim program aims to increase our understanding of climate change in the Western Cape's varied terrain. This project can provide a starting point to understanding and addressing climate change.
All the data that is collected will be made accessible to farmers and the broader community. There is so much useful data just by a tap of a button. For farms and landowners, the data can be used to plan work for the week, based on the localized weather forecast, and to maximize yield and quality with an optimized weather risk forecast for fields. The data also assists with fire prevention through the grass fire index.
   

​We are very grateful to Metos SA for choosing us as the location for the weather station. As a property hosting the technology, we have access to the information at no charge. We will use the data to schedule work on the property, including our trails and plantations. We can also keep guests informed of weather changes so that they can plan their adventures. The information will also assist with managing our rain-fed water system and will be shared with the GVB Conservancy to build into their river monitoring work as they collect data on the status of our local rivers. We are honoured to contribute the data collected on our farm to better understand climate change and how we can all work together to overcome it.