gary’ s corner
By Gary Hewitt, MSc, CWE, SGD, AIWS
roots
Roots, the souls of vines, lie hidden below the surface of the land. Given years and decades of growth, vines can push their roots deep into the soil, sometimes to depths of more than 4 metres. Over time, roots become the greater part of the plant as the above-ground vine is repeatedly pruned, trimmed, and trained. Deep roots find moisture in time of drought, provide nutrients from geologically diverse soil layers, and store carbohydrates to sustain growth. In short, deep roots provide stability.
The development of deep roots with vine age cannot be taken for granted. Excess food and water near the soil surface encourage lateral growth. For example, high-fertility soils, quick-release fertilizers, and excess irrigation make vines lazy and, if you’ ll pardon the pun, superficial. Given the easy life, vines partake of a sunshine-induced photosynthetic orgy to grow lots of canes( stems) and leaves, but such vines neglect their fruit. Given tough times, vines put effort into maturing their fruit, as if the grapes are lifeboats carrying their seeds to better times.
Quality-conscious grape growers take advantage of the vine’ s tendencies. Such growers make their vines struggle to encourage fruit production, but they provide just enough of what vines need to prevent harmful suffering. In this way, growers often promote deep root growth.
It is worth noting that many wellfed vines provide well-made, yummy wines. However, they may lack a sense of“ somewhereness” in that they could come from any of a number of modern growing regions. Mature vines that are dryfarmed( using no irrigation) with deep roots, on the other hand, often speak of their origins in expressions of minerality and complexity. Wine blogger Jamie Goode describes it as a“ conversation between the earth and the vine, mediated by the roots, that then determines the character of the wine.”
Now, let’ s consider the idea of deep roots in the context of South Africa. In the viticultural context, there is definitive potential for development of deep roots. Ancient, low-fertility soils coupled with a Mediterranean climate that provides long, dry growing seasons are ideal conditions for grape growers to be“ just mean enough” to their vines.
In the cultural context, I had hoped to find the profound metaphor relating the significance of a grapevine’ s deep roots to the current state of the South African wine industry. After all, it is enticing to expand the“ roots” metaphor in the context of the African“ cradle of humanity” and to expound on how South Africa’ s modern wines conjure the flavours of the ages— but this doesn’ t really hold true. Instead, a different but compelling metaphor emerged.
Early in the 20th century, a booming wine industry that rose afresh from the devastation of phylloxera became over-stoked. Excess grapes with no market led to the creation of the KWV co-operative, an entity that ruled the South African industry late into the century. Fixed grape prices and quotas, plus a reliable outlet for excess grapes( i. e., guaranteed funded distillation) fed excess food and water to an industry happy to produce ordinary wines for a protected market isolated by trade embargoes. Exposure to international markets with the end of Apartheid in the early 1990s revealed sick vines, out-moded wine styles, and a deficit of modern equipment and techniques. In effect, it exposed the shallowness of the broader wine industry’ s roots.
But this is not a sad story— some deep roots survived, literally and figuratively. Pockets of old, dryfarmed bush vines of Chenin Blanc and Syrah have been rediscovered. Long established estates, particularly in the famous Stellenbosch region, survived their isolation. The older, isolated generation of winemakers has given rise to a new generation whose roots reach across the wine world.
Young winemakers have studied in Old and New World wine regions. With broadened horizons, they understand the gift to viticulture that is the Cape region, with its potential for great wines of depth and regional character. Roots are being put down— literally— in new coolclimate regions. Today’ s producers understand the importance of producing wines that express environmental and, importantly for South Africa, social integrity. And, perhaps most importantly, there is a new openness and inclusiveness that permeates the industry. One hopes that this re-emerging industry is fed well enough to ensure its health, but that it has to struggle, just enough, to promote strong, deep roots. �
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