Lazanou Organic Vineyards Wellington

Saved from execution

A small farm in Wellington claims the Best White Wine and Best Wine Overall awards in the inaugural Nedbank Green Wines Awards. Jeanri-Tine van Zyl talks to owner Josef Lazarus about the Chenin Blanc that almost wasn't...

 

There is a strong belief among philosophers and economists alike that the world-wide recession has triggered a return to our roots - and this complements the new wave of Al Goreian environmental awareness rather well, given that mindful buying not only has financial benefits but environmental ones too.

Josef Lazarus, owner of Lazanou Organic Vineyards in Wellington, has taken this thinking one step further. On a small 8.48-hectare farm, he and his family are gradually moving to a self-sustainable lifestyle that cuts out as many trips to the supermarket for food as possible. Eggs are collected from free-range chickens that run amok in the garden, milk is provided by Gertrude the cow (whose calves are slaughtered for meat), and vegetables and herbs are picked crisply fresh from the garden.

It is a lifestyle that merges well with Austrian philosopher-scientist Rudolf Steiner's theories of biodynamic farming, even if Lazarus says he has yet to be convinced by the more esoteric aspects of Steiner's view of the working farm as a living system.

Organic farming was the more logical approach for Lazarus, and although his dream was always to run a working farm, winemaking quickly presented itself as another aspiration when he and partner Candice Stephanou bought a smallholding in Wellington in 2002.

It was hardly a wine farm when they moved in, with the only vineyard a small block of densely growing Chenin Blanc vines that had been planted in 1987. But the "disastrous" overgrown patch was duly "resurrected" into 0.6ha of healthy, fruitbearing vines. Saved from being uprooted on the advice of viticulturist Johan Wiese, these vines produced enough grapes in 2006 to warrant commercial release of the maiden harvest.

That year, the vineyard produced a seven-ton yield from which a wooded and unwooded Chenin Blanc were produced by winemaker Corlea Fourie (then stationed at Bovlei cellar before her appointment as winemaker at Bosman Family Vineyards - and clearly the right person to nurse the grapes from Lazanou's little Chenin patch given that she was a fi nalist in this year's Woman Winemaker of the Year Competition for her Bosman Chenin Blanc 2008).

"We were playing," laughs Lazarus as he recalls those early days. But when the maiden unwooded Lazanou (a combination of surnames Lazarus and Stephanou) received 3½ Stars in Platter's 2007, they believed they might be onto something, and expansion of winemaking activities was tackled with renewed vigour...

WINNING WINE, NATURALLY

Made from that original block, the Lazanou Chenin Blanc 2008 impressed the judges of the inaugural Nedbank Green Wines Awards 2009 so much that it was named Best White Wine and Best Wine Overall. A robust wine with a generous mouthfeel and slight developed character, it is often mistaken for having wooded components, says Lazarus. But unlike the 2006 and 2007, the 2008 is completely unwooded. Its full-bodied texture stems from treatment in the cellar, where the wine enjoyed prolonged lees contact - eight months in total, with regular stirring.

With only 4 000 bottles produced and most of them on international allocation, the 2008 is close to being sold out. The 2009 is currently in barrel and will be bottled this month or in early January.

Other varieties on the farm include Syrah, Chardonnay, Mourvèdre and sparse plantings of Viognier. Grapes are grown and wines made in accordance with strict organic standards, with certification from SGS (Société Générale de Surveillance).

For the owner of Lazanou Organic Vineyards, there is nothing odd about organic farming: "It is the most natural way to grow wines - it is conventional farming which is a deviation from the norm." So why doesn't everybody else switch to organic farming? "It is not without its challenges," says Lazarus, with Fourie quoting former Mulderbosch winemaker Mike Dobrovic: "Organic farming should not be about neglect, but intent."

A thick mat of cover crop might look slovenly to the inexperienced eye, but those layers of nitrogen-fixing plants take some serious work. And though the Lazanou vines are currently healthy and virus free, controlling diseases and other "vineyard rascals" like downy mildew calls for the organic viticulturist's meticulous involvement.

"The season started off with downy mildew, which necessitated spraying [of a copper-sulphate mixture]," reveals Lazarus, who adds that he is considering spraying milk on his vines. According to research, milk changes the pH of the leaves, making them unsusceptible to the fungus. It has yet to be tested on the farm but, for Lazarus, investigating all options is part of the bigger plan to become completely environmentally sustainable. Gertrude the cow will have her work cut out for her...

While much of organic practice finds application in the vineyard, wines require similar diligence in the cellar, with Lazanou's made in strict accordance with international organic certification body SGS. Bosman Family Vineyards is not organically certified, says Fourie, but its "cleaning procedures" are in line with the rules and regulations applicable to cellars in organic winemaking. Clean tanks and separate handling of the grapes are but two requirements, with Lazarus having also invested in a Lazanou-only bag press to aid reductive winemaking methods.

Brand new vats, "uncontaminated" by conventional wines were also required, necessitating an investment in a small collection of first-fill French and American oak barrels.

Yes, nods Lazarus, a lot of extra effort goes into organic winemaking. But if it complements your lifestyle then you are driven not only by the quality of your fruit, but also by your quality of life.

This much is obvious when you visit Lazanou Organic Vineyards. Sitting next to the dam, the smell of earth is potent. No fertiliser pong; just natural, healthy farmyard. There are ducks - vineyard police - breeding in the den, chickens scrabbling between roses, and cows grazing in a field adjacent to the yard.

Rustic, yes, but also innately calm. Stay long enough and the appeal of the rat race might diminish completely. You have been warned...