I don’t know a great deal about wine farming, but as a trained chef I know a lot about how a wine should look, feel and most importantly taste. I recently enjoyed a glass of Avondale’s MCC, Armilla, with Johnathan Grieve, the proprietor of Avondale wine estate, at the Westcliff Hotel in Johannesburg, and learnt exactly what goes into this beautiful bottle of SA wine.
Wine doesn’t just grow on trees, a lot of hard work, effort and carefully considered timing goes into a bottle of delicious wine. To become a wine farmer requires a deep understanding of agriculture, and this was emphasised by Grieve on more than one occasion during our discussion. ‘Soil is life,’ he says, ‘if you don’t have a living soil, your vineyard is dead.’
Avondale vineyards have been going since 1693 on a 100 ha estate in Paarl, Cape Town. It has always been a family-owned wine estate. The Grieve family moved onto Avondale in 1996 and the land was in terrible disrepair, arid and barren. From 1996 to 1999 the family maintained the old chemical ways of farming, but when Johnathan Grieve joined the team in 1999, things changed drastically. ‘The chemicals weren’t working as they should have been,’ he noticed.
Today, an important component of Avondale’s approach to viticulture is blending the practice of biodynamic farming with the latest technology and modern science, also called Biologic. ‘The farm is a self-sustaining, whole-system where the basic principles of life are respected and upheld,’ he says.
And, in that sense, biodynamic farming meets the highest organic standards, Grieve believes. The farm is organically certified by the Dutch certification standard, Control Union Certification. But, this system goes even further, Grieve says. ‘By engaging purposefully and positively with the energy of place. At Avondale, we make use of the full spectrum of biodynamic preparations, similar to supporting healthy balance through homeopathy.’
This whole approach to farming takes all living things on the farm, into consideration. ‘Where chemicals cannot choose, we choose what is needed in the vineyards to create the perfect eco-system. We start in the soil, of which Avondale has 13 different types, each treated independently from the other. ’This soil management, the Albrecht Method, was first introduced by Professor William Albrecht from the University of Missouri. It embraces the theory that soil management is integral to a healthy farm.
From here, all the micro-organisms are taken into consideration and then managed. ‘We do what’s called ‘cover-cropping’ and plant indigenous crops, or allow plants to naturally grow in and amongst the vines, to protect the soil.’ Legumes are a popular cover-crop, as they have a symbiotic relationship with the micro-organism Rhizobium bacteria, creating nitrogen in the soil and making the introduction of chemical composts unnecessary, says Grieve.
Despite letting everything live naturally, ‘we must control pests,’ says Grieve. ‘As I mentioned before, chemicals don’t choose, they just kill everything, so our approach is very different.’ By introducing natural predators, the system can be controlled healthily. ‘Ducks are not a threat to vines,’ explains Grieve, ‘but they really enjoy a snail or two, which can be very detrimental to a crop.’ Every morning a flock of ducks is released into the vineyards to feast on the pesky snails.
Every hectare on Avondale is maintained independently, starting with the soil and ending with the fermentation stage in winemaking. ‘We do not introduce foreign yeasts for fermenting, but prefer to use the naturally occurring yeasts found on the grapes. Each one hectare block of vineyard is fermented separately.’ Also, 30 per cent less sulphur than required by organic standards, is used. ‘I do not believe in not using sulphur at all, but some South African wines just go overboard.’ No enzymes, catalyzing agents or softeners are used.
The gravity-flow, 500 ton capacity cellar facilitates gentle treatment of the grapes and enables traditional vinification. ‘We practice slow winemaking,’ Grieve says, ‘it gives our wines time to develop.’
Be it winter, spring or summer Avondale is bursting with life and encourages it in every aspect. ‘The cover-crops grow in winter and so the vineyard never looks barren,’ says Grieve.
