Green farming - what it's all about
Going Green...
Framed by a dramatic coastline and craggy peaks, the vineyards of the Western Cape have arguably the most beautiful backdrop on the planet. They’re in the heart of the Cape Floral Kingdom, the world’s smallest yet richest plant kingdom, which is home to more than 9000 plant species, about 6200 of which are found nowhere else on Earth. Apart from making the Cape a popular tourist destination, this remarkable biodiversity and its abundance of animal, reptile and bird species has given the area World Heritage status.
Sadly, the Cape winelands area also has the dubious distinction of being a leading site for species extinctions. Urban and agricultural development, not to mention chemicals used in conventional farming, has wiped out more than 80 per cent of the indigenous renosterveld and lowland fynbos; the disconnected fragments that remain (mostly on privately owned land) soon won’t be able to maintain the ecological processes required for long-term species survival.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that many of the region’s wine farmers – also the chief culprits of the unfolding ecological disaster – have realised that when biodiversity is lost, nature responds erratically and unpredictably, making it difficult for them to plan production. They’ve also realised that while farming with chemicals might be easier and more profitable in the short-term, it may ultimately be harmful to the land they’d like their children to inherit one day.
Even wineries that are interested only in creating wines on par with the world’s best are beginning to adapt their thinking. More attention is being given to the old cliché, ‘great wine is made in the vineyard’ and there’s a move away from vines that have been fed on a fast-food diet of NPK fertiliser in soils completely sterilised by herbicides, pesticides and fungicides. Getting it right in the vineyard seems to make far more sense. As Johan Reyneke of Reyneke Wines in Stellenbosch puts it, ‘The plants and animals and insects that have survived on our land have really proved themselves, so why not rely on them to help us achieve balance in the vineyard naturally, rather than in the cellar artificially?’
Reyneke practises an extreme-green method of organic farming know as biodynamics, where the primary aim is for the farm to operate as a closed, self-nourishing system by restoring its natural balance, right down to the insects, weeds and microbes – in a word, biodiversity. There are plenty of sceptics about the esoteric aspects of biodynamics, such as the use of homeopathic preps and a belief in lunar and cosmic influences, but it certainly works for Reyneke. Its Chenin Blanc 2010 was named best wine overall in this year’s Nedbank Green Wine Awards, a feat also achieved last year with Woolworths Chenin Blanc 2009. Reyneke wines routinely achieve mainstream recognition too: the Reserve Red 2007, named best red wine in last year’s competition, scored 5 Stars in the 2011 Platter’s wine guide.
But Johan doesn’t cling dogmatically to biodynamics. ‘I see it as a tool, just as science is a tool, and the more tools we have in our toolbox, the better we can work.’ For this reason, he was well placed to judge the Best Environmental Practices category of this year’s Nedbank Green Wine Awards, along with Tom McLaughlin (Good Business Journey manager for Woolworths Foods), soil scientist Lourens van Schoor (head of Enviroscientific) and Inge Kotze (senior manager at WWF Biodiversity and Wine Initiative Sustainable Agriculture Programme).
Entrants to this competition are assessed on water management, conservation of natural areas and ecosystems, energy efficiency and reduction of carbon emissions, soil management, chemical control and other environmental initiatives such as education programmes, community involvement, eco-tourism and transport initiatives. It’s hoped these awards will help shape more farmers’ thinking. As Greg Garden, head of Nedbank’s Green Trust argues, ‘one day this competition will be superflous, all farming will be done this way … there will be no such thing as green wine.’
Until then, the Nedbank Green Wine Awards will continue to encourage farmers to adopt farming practices that ensure the delicate balance of ecosystem health and human needs is met. After all, an afternoon picnic with one of the Cape’s exciting Chenins would leave a bitter taste if the natural surroundings were destroyed for a tipple.
WWF BIODIVERSITY and WINE INITIATIVE
Recognising the need to farm more sustainably, as well as the marketing potential of the Cape Floral Kingdom’s unique biodiversity, the wine industry partnered with the conservation sector in 2004 to form the WWF Wine and Biodiversity Initiative. Today the WWF BWI boasts 211 members, of which 16 are producer cellars and 21 have achieved champion status (including Paul Cluver, La Motte and Waverley Hills). Together, they conserve 130 633,40 hectares of land, a figure well in excess of the total vineyard footprint of 102 000 hectares.
For more information and to check the most basic green credentials of your favourite wine, go to www.bwi.co.za.
