Page 14 - Landscape SA 105

FEATURE

Cover crops
SUSTAINABLE VITICULTURE

Viticulture is the cultivation of grape vines for wine production. Avondale Wine Estate
near Paarl in the Western Cape is situated on the slopes of the Klein Drakenstein
mountains. An internationally certified, organic wine estate, it is committed to
sustainable farming practices.

onathan Grieve, proprietor of the The key to biological farming is to ensure building blocks and occur naturally
estate, is a pioneer of the BioLOGIC® that nature’s balance is maintained and where soils are farmed with a focus
Japproach to sustainable viticulture the following are examples that form part on broad spectrum natural nutrition.
and explains that this farming practice is of Avondale’s BioLOGIC® approach: At Avondale, there are high levels of
a combination of organic, biodynamic and nutrient rich soils due to their organic
modern scientific practices, undertaken • nutrient density: the nutrient level of and bio-dynamic farming practices, as
in a holistic way. “Chemically, biologically the plants and crops are fundamental well as the philosophy of feeding the
and physically, the health of soil, water,
plants, animals and humans are closely
inter-related,” he states. Young shoots in the vineyard
‘Terra est vita’ (soil is life) is the core focus
at Avondale and involves the removal
from the soil of all chemical input such
as fertilisers, herbicides and insecticides
– basically the removal of anything that
kills life rather than promoting it. There
are 13 different types of soil at Avondale,
with composition ranging from deep loam
to Table Mountain sandstone, Kroonstad
gravels and decomposed granite. Each
soil has different properties, forms and
characteristics, and these are reflected in
the wine.

12 Landscape SA • Issue 105 2021