CELLAR

The original part of the cellar was built in the early 1950's. Over the past ten years it was expanded and modernised.

Two one-ton tractors off-load the grapes at the grade intake section of the cellar. Grapes are crushed, de-talked and pumped into the red or white wine sections. The white wine section consists of 3 x 13 ton drainers for skin contact. After skin contact, the juice is separated from the solids, drained through a pulp remover and pumped through a stainless steel heat exchanger to settlement tanks. The stainless steel tanks are chilled with glikol.
The solids are moved to a de-juiser and then into a final press.

The approximate 800 litres / tonne are a total of 600 litres through gravity out of the drainers, 150 litres out of the de-juicer and 50 litres out of the fiinal press. The red wine sections consists of five tanks and a computerised pump-over system. Cold maturation takes place during the first five days in the tanks, followed by fermentation for another five days. The juice is then drained, and then the solids are moved from mono-pump, to the de-juicer and then to final press. Tank temperatures are controlled by glikol cooling plant while temperature control for cold fermation is done by an ordinary water-based cooling plant The capacity of the tanks are:

Concrete tanks covered by epoxy paints 200 000 litres
Fibre glass white wine fermenting tanks 200 000 litres
Stainless steel white wine fermenting tanks 400 000 litres
Wine is moved by only four mono pumps in the cellar.

Red wine maturation cellar – barrels :
60 new French Oak
40 second fill American Oak

Italian – made wine filters are used for final bulk filtration and cleaning grape juice lees. Cold stabilization takes place in one of the red wine tanks which is totally isolated, using the glikol cooling plant. The complete red and white wine process can take place in the cellar. A mobile bottling and labeling unit is brought to the farm for the final phase of the Goedverwacht production line.

The final products, in six – bottle cases, are stored in a temperature – controlled warehouse situated next to the main wine cellar, this warehouse having a capacity of 10 000 cases of 6 x 750 ml bottles. A high premium is put on hygiene. All tanks, barrels and equipment are cleaned by using high pressure water and cold water spraying machines.

Goedverwacht Cellar often receives compliments from wine tasters, buyers and members of the public for being one of the neatest and best – maintained wineries they have visited.

INFORMATION ON GOEDVERWACHT WINEMAKER – HENRY CONRADIE

Henry Conradie was born in Paarl and spent his first few years in Durbanville before his family moved to a farm on the outride of Montagu. This is where he discovered his love for the vineyards. Here Henry would work in the vineyard doing everything from pruning to harvesting and canopy management even before enrolling at Elsenburg Agricultural College to study winemaking.
At Elsenburg he was the dux student in 2002 and obtained his winemaking qualification in 2003. His first footprint in the industry was that of assistant winemaker at Langverwacht Cooperative Cellar which is in Bonnievale. This was a very valuable experience for him as it taught him how to work under pressure and some of the most practical aspects of winemaking. During 2005 he was spotted by Jan du Toit, owner and previous winemaker of Goedverwacht Wine Estate and in November 2005 he started as winemaker at Goedverwacht Wine Estate.