Wild & spicy – indulgence is very popular in fall

Autumn is harvest time! No season is more generous than the golden fall. While the leaves turn yellow, red and brown, we can also enjoy a colorful variety on our plates: Chestnuts, pumpkin, game, red cabbage, porcini mushroom risotto or Brussels sprouts – nature is not stingy with its charms in the fall.

The grapes for our wines are harvested in the South African fall, which is between February and April in the southern hemisphere. Hand-picking the grapes is laborious, but a prerequisite for quality wine.

Hand-picked grapes provide flavor

In most large wineries, wines are harvested by machine. However, grapes do not all ripen at the same time: they ripen at different times depending on the amount of sunlight or leaf mass. Several harvesting passes are therefore necessary to pick the ripe grapes. If machines pick all the berries at the same time, unripe grapes, leaves, stalks or branches also end up in the harvest. Smaller farms that pay attention to quality sort the grapes by hand. The grapes are harvested at night or in the early hours of the morning, as it is too hot during the day. In order to be able to manage the laborious manual harvest, many wineries hire additional help during the harvest period.

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High-tech ensures flawless berries

When picking the grapes, manual labor remains unsurpassed. After the berries have been picked, however, optical sorting machines are used on innovative farms. Computer-operated machines detect unripe grapes by using cameras with standard images of ripe and healthy berries to capture all the berries flowing over the conveyor belt. Those berries that do not meet the specifications are removed from the belt with a jet of air. This ensures that only flawless and ripe berries reach the wine cellar. The so-called destemmer machines, which separate the berries from the stems, also benefit from artificial intelligence.

Wines for the colorful autumn plate

Gray autumn? The food that comes to the table in fall is definitely colorful! When it gets cooler outside again, many people crave heartier dishes: Chestnuts, red cabbage, spaetzli, mushrooms, game, goulash or a delicious pumpkin soup. What should not be missing is the right wine to accompany the fall dish.

Typical autumn wines round off strong and spicy dishes such as stews, meat and especially game. All Kanonkop wines can be perfectly combined with a delicious fall meal. All deep red and aromatic Shiraz wines are also ideal accompaniments to a hearty autumn meal. We are happy to recommend the Saronsberg Shiraz and Full Circle wines, for example – they turn any stew or onion tart into a feast.

Harvest in the fall, enjoy this delicious season!