Is it too early to welcome Spring?

At Môreson the oak trees are all covered in their green-leaf jackets, the jasmine is in bloom and faithfully clinging to its post,

Clingy Jasmine: beautiful but oh so needy.

the violets have arrived and our yesterday-today-and-tomorrow’s heavenly scent is (as I write this) wafting through my bedroom window.

Smells delicious!

Oh and, every few hours, there is the unmistakable stench of manure (delightful) . The roses – in preparation for their heavy summer bloom – are gorging on compost and the smell, that I consider so distasteful, is their idea of fine-dining.

P.S. The Autumn leaf carpet continues to provide hours of fun for {Miss} Molly and (the latest addition to the family) Sophie “The TRex” Friedman (she’s likes to bite). Sometimes I think that in my next life I’d like to come back as a dog on Môreson.

Miss Molly lounging away.

P.P.S On the wine front we’re still bottling and our preparations for Franschhoek Uncorked are well under way. This year it has moved to the 10th and 11th of October so the chances are good that the weather will be great. That would definitely be a pleasant change from last year!

The surrounding Franschhoek mountains are covered in snow. They’re quite beautiful and, when I manage to locate my camera, I’ll share them with you. I’m a little concerned that Sophie (or TRex) has eaten it, she’s very into the chewing.

It’s incredibly cold on the farm – good for the Môreson vines, not so good for us – my toes are struggling to warm up. And don’t mention bad circulation, it’s got nothing to do with circulation. It’s just FREEZING!

I plan on spending a significant portion of my weekend in front of the fire, roasting these bad-boy frozen toes back to life.

Hopefully it’s a little warmer where you are.

x

At Môreson we’re always looking for ways to share what we do with you. Not just through marketing material or wines shows because that only showcases the final product. It can’t ever effectively share the work, love and passion that go into creating a spectacular wine.

As you may know we produce an award winning Bordeaux Blend called Magia. Quite a few farms are now producing Bordeaux Blend and I don’t blame them. It’s a delicious style of wine! It’s just very difficult to demonstrate to someone – not actively involved in the wine industry – how much work and love goes into creating a great Bordeaux Blend i.e. a Magia. Of course you can talk and tell them but that’s not enough, you need to demonstrate and give that person (or those people) the opportunity to blend their own.

This was the motivation behind the Wine Blending Course we now offer. It gives participants an chance to make their own – potential award winning – Bordeaux Blend. Not only do those attending the course get to blend wine they also have lunch, at the delicious Bread & Wine Vineyard Restaurant, and get to taste the new – yet to be released – wines from the tanks and barrels.

We’ve already run one very successful Wine Blending Course and there are three more happening this year. If you’re interested give Hanri a call on +27(0)21 876 3055 or send us an email: sales@moreson.co.za.

If I wasn’t attending the next course I’d be disgustingly jealous.

So we’re in the thick of bottling. All terrible exciting and stressful. I think Clayton might have developed a nervous twitch in his left eyeball. Hopefully that will pass.

On an aside – because I do love asides – we’ve recently added a new member to the Môreson dog family. Introducing the beautiful and delectably cute Sophie.

Sophie the Great

Oh and some wine news (because that’s also important) our Môreson Chenin 2009 is knee-weakeningly good. It’s also available for sale. So just pop over to our site, download the order form and get yourself a case or 4.

2009 was definitely the ‘year of the white wine’. Yum.

It may not seem like it – because it’s cold and miserable outside – but the wedding season is almost upon us. And those who’ve recently planned a wedding, or are in the process of planning one, let out a collective ‘oh cr*p’.

Weddings are stressful. Actually weddings = stress. Maybe I’ll publish a graphic representation of that equation later?

On the face of it everything seems to be easy. Heck all you need is a venue, some food and some guests. But somehow things just seem to get more complicated. It’s like wedding complication is directly related to time. The less time you have left the more complicated it gets. Suddenly it’s less about love and happiness and more about lighting, sound, tables, crockery, cultery etc etc etc. Before you know it it is no longer the day of your dreams and you’re no longer talking to your mother because of a small disagreement over cake.

So where is this all going? Is organising a wedding truly that bad?

Well … yes.

It’s difficult, painful and sometimes oddly masochistic. Who knew?

I have, however, found my gratitude (apparently that’s important). I am thankful to one of the things seeing me through all of this – my cases (note the plural) of Môreson Cap Classique.

To you, my glorious Cap Classique, I owe a huge thanks. Without you this experience would be a little like removing my own eyeballs with a blunt fork.

Remember – when it comes to your big day and you find that the stress is getting to you don’t snap, refrain from getting emotional; instead open a bottle of Môreson Cap Classique and pour yourself a glass of happiness.