Winemakers Dinner at Dornier Bodega Restaurant

A late night in March at the Dornier Bodega Restaurant (Pictures Juerg Wittwer)

Harvest initiation at Dornier - 6 March 2010

On a magnificent day we met at the Dornier Bodega Restaurant for muffins and coffee and took of for the vineyards on a tractor trailer. Winemaker JC Steyn, took us to merlot block 8 where 40 harvesters had been working since the early morning hours. The labour broker had brought an extra team with the result that there where no scissors left for the visitors. Instead of grapes most of us went after nice photo motives and there where plenty. After this, we drove back to the cellar for a cellar tour.





JC explained the process of winecmaking. We could experience de-stemming, crushing, pump-overs, fermenting wine in open tanks, addition of yeast, pressing. We tried unfermented and semi-fermented wines; Chein Blanc, Rose from Cabernet Franc as well as red wine. We did some grape stomping in front of the cellar, which was a great experience for the kids and some of the grown ups.
Lunch with more wines at Bodega was fabulous and we lingered until 4 in the afternoon.




The company was great. People came from Stellenbosch, Somerset West, England, Germany, and Russia. We hope to stay in touch.

Two empty bottles turned into a piece of art, and a tribute to two pioneers

The special label on the Dornier Donatus Red bottles was a tribute to the Swiss aviation pioneer Walter Mittelholzer, the holder of many flight records in the twenties and thirties of the last century and one of the founders of Swissair and to Claude Dornier, the German aircraft builder. In 1926/27 Mittelholzer was the first to fly across Africa on a seaplane, a Dornier Merkur.
His daughter in law, the Swiss artist Mascha Mioni, who is a regular visitor to Stellenbosch got inspired and re-designed the two bottles in bright (Swiss) red colours and secret messages. The bottles can be viewed at the Estate.