Ormonde Private Cellar
THE VINEYARDS
The uniqueness of the Darling Hills terroir is undisputed. Pockets of eroded granite type soils are selected as close as five kilometers from the cold Atlantic Ocean, at altitudes between one hundred and fifty and three hundred meters above sea level.
Soil preparation is thorough, and maximum root development for nourishment and optimum water usage of the vines is essential. We do not irrigate and therefore the clay content of the deep red soil is such, that it retains the moisture from the winter rains through to the dry summer months until harvest time in February.
A warmer micro climate prevails around the berries of bush vines. This initiates a shorter ripening period, resulting in a fruitier juice. Most of our vines are trellised and this allows the afternoon breeze to move beneath the vines, cooling them down, bringing a balanced natural acidity and freshness to our wines.
We keep viticulture practices simple and with continuous consultation, training and evaluation exercises involving all levels of our workforce, we maintain our pursuit of quality every day of the year.
A high level of skill involving subjective decision making during winter pruning ensures spacing of bearers and manipulation of desired crop levels. Vineyard practices peak during the growing season from September when health and canopy management is a very busy and important period. All undesirable growth is removed by means of suckering; leaves are removed to allow for better light penetration which influences ripening of fruit and fertility for future crops. Shoots need to be positioned upright with constant trimming of growth points in order to ensure controlled vegetative development. These are thus just some of the practices.
We are grateful and respect our environment, and therefore we manage our vineyards with this responsibility in mind. We do not spray insecticides, are a member of the Biodiversity in Wine Initiative and we gladly adhere to The Integrated Production of Wine Initiatives.
Our workforce is our most valuable asset and we respect and learn from each other constantly, placing strong emphasis on training and education, from the children in our preschool facility, as well as all the way through to management.

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