How do you become an expert at making tea?

I am often asked (enough to warrant a comment) ‘do you know anything about growing grapes and making wine?’ The insinuation being that one has to be an expert or employ an expert before doing anything. A lot of new wine makers in SA (and elsewhere) are, like me, second career chaps. Established vineyards are family run and the sons and daughters learn at the foot of the parent.

The prerequisite has to be land and space and the ability to ask questions and read books. Other winemakers and vineyard farmers are all too eager to share their knowledge and for that I am thankful. The ability to digest the knowledge and apply some judgment has to be what I’m an expert at. I’ve worked as an Engineer for over 40 years and that’s just what I do- digest, plan, deliver. A wine farming project is an engineering project – a new plan and a new glossary. It depends in which industry the project is deployed and it’s always better if you know a little about the subject and also in the case of farming to be aware of what nature can throw at you…. see previous blogs. I hadn’t realised just how fickle nature can be. I’ll be more comfortable once the grapes are picked and I can start de-stemming, crushing, racking, cooling, fermenting, bottling, boxing - yes - doing real engineering.

I once read a ‘manual’ on how to make of cup of tea. It said ‘put one teabag in the cup, stand for 3 minutes, remove teabag, add milk and sugar to taste’ . There was no mention of water or the fact that it had to be boiled OR if it was the cup or the person standing for 3 minutes.

We had our first grapes 2 days back. The vines that were ‘leftover’ from the Viognier field plant, and are the spares for the deaths we have had this year, were trench planted at the bottom of the field. They have been left to their own devices – no irrigation, no grow tubes, no trellis or support, no pruning, no weeding… just left to go bush and find their own water. They are perfectly healthy and are producing lovely sweet Viognier grapes . A little small maybe, but next year, with the benefit of some expert care, they’ll be much better.