Eco-Friendly Wines From South Africa
 As consumers we are becoming more inquisitive, wanting to find out the heritage and provenance of the products we buy. Do we really want to buy global brands when we’ve heard about the sweat shops and appalling pay and conditions the employees have to endure? Changes are beginning to happen and one industry which is embracing these changes is the South African wine industry.
Since 2004 the South African wine industry has been working closely with environmental bodies and introduced the Biodiversity & Wine Initiative (BWI), to make winemaking sustainable and to minimise the further loss of the threatened natural habitat in the Cape. Many other wineries around the world are already embracing this eco-friendly culture but the South African wine industry is the first to do so as a whole. This commitment is supported through the Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) and from 2009 wineries will be unable to export unless they have the IPW certification which includes the biodiversity guidelines.
The Cape has a diverse yet fragile ecosystem, and the wineries are working to create sustainable, eco-friendly vineyards which also enable the protection of the indigenous flora unique to South Africa (there are 9600 plant species in The Cape, more than in the whole of the Northern Hemisphere). The diversity of the Cape climate, mountain slopes and soils also produces the conditions to create a fabulous variety of wines. Nearly 18,000 have been saved since the project began, which is 20% of the total vineyard footprint, and the initiative continues to grow. Those who run the vineyards and wineries are constantly looking at what they can do to protect the local environment and of course to produce natural and authentic wines. These include, for example, in the vineyards minimising the amount of vine spraying; and planting vines along the gradient (usually vertically) to prevent erosion. In the wineries the use of sulphur dioxide is kept to a minimum and where possible natural yeasts are used.
It is not all just about respect for the land, but respect for the people too. The South African wine industry has been instrumental in implementing good employment practices and is committed to the promotion of fair trade. The Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trade Association, funded by the UK supermarkets along with South African producers, is the first ethical auditing system for wine production, and works closely with the Fair Trade Foundation.
With 41 wineries involved in the BWI campaign there are plenty of wines readily available in the UK which can be bought with a clear conscience, knowing that the wine farmers are trying to preserve the land’s heritage and that the wines are made with minimal interference to produce delicious, natural wines which reflect the diversity of The Cape. Names to look out for which are readily available are:
Boschendal – Tesco, Majestic, Waitrose and selected independents
Brampton - Threshers, Waitrose and selected independents
Graham Beck – Asda, Co-op, Majestic, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose and selected independents
Rustenberg – Threshers and Waitrose and selected independents
Spier – Asda, Majestic, Somerfields, Thresher, Wm Morrisons and selected independents
Vergelegen – Majestic, Oddbins, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and The Wine Society
To find out more log on to www.bwi.co.za, www.greenmountain.co.za for information on the world’s first biodiversity wine route and www.wieta.org.za, the website for the Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trade Association
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