417 Ha

Vineyards:

Sav Blanc 11.7ha - Block 1 – 6ha est. 2005 & block 2 – 5.7ha est. 2006

Shiraz 1.7ha – Block 3 est. 2006

Semillon 1.2ha – Block 4 est. 2008

Pinot Noir 1.4ha – Block 5 est. 2010

Chardonnay 1ha – Block 6 est. 2010

All Vineyards are now in full production and yield harvests of between 8-10t/ha.

The composition of the varieties was carefully chosen to suit the terroir and the demand for grapes and allows one to have a nice variety of wines to offer ( 5 wines and a bubbly)

I sell a portion of the grapes and make limited quantities of wine for the BRUNIA brand. Contracts are normally finalised  in Sep-Oct.  Price is varies from R6000-R7000 per ton, but in some cases prices of up to R9000/ton was paid, however this is not the rule!

Figs:

The total planting of figs are 2.7ha and were planted in 2010. A harvest of around  7t/ha was achieved in the 1^st harvest this year and a GP of R90 000/ha was achieved this year with promise of doubling this figure when trees have mature.

The markets are mainly, 1^st choice, Export (Europe), Woolworths and not so profitable, other chain grocers! Price varies between R70-80/kg export, Woolworths R45/kg and other chain grocers R20-25/kg

Harvesting takes place from mid Feb - end April and it is all about high “pack out %”.

I must mention that I believe there is gap to produce jam, sweets, dried figs, etc from the fruit not suitable for the fresh market, which requires labour, but is highly profitable!

Lucerne/Rye Pastures:

These areas are earmarked for further planting of grape, flower, apples & pears. As a full terrior study was done on the farm in 2004, all the crops are suited to the area.

Added to this, one would be able to run a flock of up 200 ewes on these areas until used for further development is planned at a conservative  nett. income of around R1000/ewe per year.

Additional land for further development:

On the aerial photo supplied the areas are demarcated and numbered and in different colours representing as follows:

Green – suitable to all crops referred to above

Red – Suitable for grapes and flowers only

Pine Forest:

Needless to say wood is scarce! I am inundated with requests to sell the trees, but have been reluctant to do for aesthetic reasons.

Fynbos veldt & Cultivated Fynbos(Flowers):

I have in the past let this area at R25000/year to a flower pickers as my attention was focussed on the main agricultural area, however, if opting to cultivate fynbos flowers, this would slot in very well. 

The cost of establishing a hectare of cultivated fynbos flowers is around R80000/ha and it takes 2-3 years before in production. In some cases,  gross income of R300000/ha per year is not unheard of! However, the norm is around R150 - R200000, taking in consideration that some plants die and not all flowers produced are marketable. This is something that I seriously consider, but due to cash flow constraints cannot go ahead.

There are also 4 earmarked sites to erect homesteads on that I have applied for in the fynbos veldt whish have been granted.

There is a possibility that the fynbos veldt, if rezoned to private nature reserve, can be sub divided from the agricultural section of the farm, which in turn can then be marketed in the format of a close corporation or company. However,  new legislation have made this exercise not an easy task and cannot be excepted as a given.

BRUNIA Brand:

Our 1^st harvest was in 2009 and a total of 1700/6bot cases al sold out!  2010 Harvest totalled 2200/6 bot of Sav Blanc, which was mainly taken up by British Airways (BA) and The Wine Society UK (TWS) and is all sold out! The 2010 Shiraz  and 2011 Sav Blanc are what we are currently selling from that and I have had 2 orders going to TWS again from this vintage, with a possibility of getting another slot wit BA next year March. We have also landed a listing with a group of 7 hotels in Mauritius, Seychelles and Maldives recently, which is very promising  for future business!

Our price structure is as follows;

Sauvignon Blanc       tasting room R80.00             

Semillon                      Tasting room R80.00?                     

Chardonnay              Tasting room R75.00?                     

Shiraz                         Tasting room R110.00                     

Pinot Noir                  Tasting room R120.00?              

My production cost per bottle S/B produced in 2011 was R26.85 which includes the cost of the grapes @ R7000/ton. A ton of grapes will recover around 750 bottles of wine and at my trade price will yield an extra R21000/ton, excluding marketing cost.

HOSPITALITY:

Wedding Venue

This is a huge untapped market, which we are attempting from October 2013!! We have been inundated with request for a wedding venue and with Beloftebos in the area, being fully booked from October to April at around R30000 per wedding, venue fee, excluding catering and booze.

Furthermore, one would be able to move good volumes of wine through this venue at premium price, which automatically will be free brand building at the same!

Manor house

The manor house, lodge will be utilised for tourists and wedding  guests wanting to experience the rural outdoors! The layout of the house was designed with this in mind and lends itself to that!

The existing  labour cottages will also be included on a self catering basis to cater for extra  accommodation .

I have no doubt that in both cases this will render good  annual income with existing infrastructure.

Restaurant/Deli

We also applied for farm stall (deli/restaurant) statuses which have been approved that could run very well with a tasting room drawing more that than just wine tasters. The idea is to offer more so that visitors could spend the day out here with family and friends!

Closing

Opportunities, opportunities!!! That is what Cold Mountain offers!

We have a registered water use from the Upper Uilenkraals river catchment area to the extent of a 100 000 cubic meters. Bear in mind that the crunch period is normally Jan – Feb, however, this is enough for current plantings and I would venture to say even for double the current grape plantings! Since I have been on the farm the river has never dried up over the crisis time and one does not do a lot of irrigating on vineyards over this period in any case.  I would dare to say that with the current supply of water one can easily double up on the existing vineyard, should you wish to do so.

The house, staff quarters and stock drinking troughs are supplied by a borehole delivering around 5000L/hour and are more than adequate for this purpose.

Underground water is very strong in the area and both neighbouring farm have recently drilled and recovered 40000L/hour as we are situated on a geographical “fault”, which normally has very good underground water reserves. This option would be the most cost effective if more water is required.

Another option would be to enlarge the existing dam to 50 000cub meters as additional storage.