Avondale Updates

My Grandmother, Julie Grieve, was a remarkable woman – all 5 foot of her.  My earliest memories are of her seated regally at the head of an enormous dining table.  Here she would use her fork to spear offenders who dared to place an elbow on her table; but her most extravagant outburst - peppered with expletives - was reserved for the poor soul who dared to add salt before tasting her patiently roasted leg of lamb.

To her this was simply a barbaric act of treason akin to slouching at her table, turning down her offer of seconds or – if as designated barman - you allowed her glass to stand empty for a brief second.  In the event of this calamity occurring, she would become silent in mid-sentence and simply stare at the errant barmen in disbelief, her brightly jewelled hand would move slowly to her mouth suppressing the urge to yell.  She did not tolerate incompetence or bad breeding of any form; least of all in her dining room.  Food and wine were important to her, and in later years her favourite tipple was the Julia; but she was more than just a lover of fine wine and dining.

She was a true renaissance figure whose education had been broad and well-rounded.  For her there was no distinction between art and science, between form and function -things were simply right or they were not; and if they were not, you fought tirelessly to correct them.  To her the debate of form versus function was simply nonsense; things had to function well AND look great, there was no compromise.  Compromise was a word she simply did not know, pursuing excellence in all that she did.

This philosophy, and a tremendous capacity for work, saw her achieve many great things, often in fields traditionally the domain of men; artist, potter, pianist, farmer, mayor, women’s golf captain, company director, member of the Black Sash, politician, town councillor, town-planner, gardener, fisherman and many, many more.  Indeed, there were few aspects of life where she did not cast her formidable shadow and leave a legacy.

As mentioned, she loved wine [Julia!] and was a superb cook, many of her ingredients coming from her own vegetable garden or the fruit trees on her smallholding, where she spent hours preserving fruit and making jams. Try as you might with your own marmalade, fig preserve or stewed guavas, it was accepted that she remained the benchmark; if you doubted this, a simple stare and expletive reminded you.

My Gran was living proof that an individual can make the world a better place. The people of Durbanville who enjoy the old buildings she preserved, the open spaces, the many trees that differentiate the town from her neighbours, the tremendous sports facilities, the Rose Garden, the Indigenous Garden and many more are testimony to her tireless efforts.  Following her fine example, it is my aim to make Avondale a better place for all who live and work here, both now and in the future.  A challenge indeed, but one worthy of pursuit.

Why not celebrate Women’s Day with a bottle of Julia or Graham and remember all those women who have made the world a better place?

 

Avondale ducks do not get fat.  It’s due to their military-like regimen of getting up-and-about at the break of dawn to rush into the vineyards and start gobbling up as many snails as possible.  So when the rumour hit the grapevine that a Fat Duck would be visiting, our whole flock went into a complete quackery.  Guard ducks were placed on point duty to raise the alarm as soon as the rumoured Fat Duck arrived and eyes were peeled for any suspicious arrivals, whether by plane, train or automobile.

It all started sneakily enough.  A number of unmarked vehicles showed up, and some engineering-type people began unloading equipment.  “Nothing to worry about” was the news the ducks got from their sentries.  The engineering-types then started setting up their equipment and only when the ducks heard the shouts of “lights, camera, action” did they realise that they had been fooled.

Heston Blumenthal, world-famous chef and owner of the highly-rated restaurant, The Fat Duck, had arrived to film a recipe commercial for Waitrose.  While Waitrose is one of the United Kingdom's leading food retailers, they are also involved in the Waitrose Foundation, an organisation aimed at improving the lives of the people involved in the production of what Waitrose puts on the shelves.

We have been working closely with the Waitrose Foundation for a number of years and our relationship is one of mutual benefit.  While Waitrose gets to offer their customers our sustainable and organic produce, they in turn plough money back into the development of our workers and their children.  Definitely a win-win situation and something we are proud to be involved with.

See the end result "Heston Blumenthal's Lemon Tart Recipe " as filmed on Avondale in May 2010.

 

In the 1990’s British health guru, the late Maurice Hansen, produced a BBC programme aimed at getting children to follow a more healthy diet.  He was horrified to discover that none of the children surveyed at an inner-city London school could identify the original source of their dinner.  It must be difficult to imagine where a burger could possibly have originated if you have only ever seen it appear from a polystyrene container.  He was further saddened to discover that these children ate their meals in front of the television.

I don’t wish to sound fanatical as this is not about right or wrong, but rather about choice.  We have the choice as to what role we wish food to play in our lives.  For a working mom the instant meal is a time saver.  For the mom who hasn’t stood on a chair next to the stove as a toddler and learnt the art of slow cooking, wisdom distilled through the ages and passed on through the generations, there is no short-term choice but to buy dinner.  This is not bad if you see food as a commodity that simply serves to refill the tank.

There is, however, another way to look at food.  Food is the fuel that nourishes your body and the choice and balance of food determines your energy levels.  Good quality food leads to an improved functioning body.  It also becomes the bricks and mortar of who we are, as proteins are the building blocks of the body. It stands to reason that the correct balance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates allow us to build the body, nurture, protect and fuel it – all this while still being able to savour it at our leisure.  What we put into our bodies and how we prepare it, in effect, becomes WHAT and ultimately WHO we are.

It doesn’t end here.  Food is also cultural, in that the food a community eats, is a reflection of the produce available and their historical relationship with food.  Think of  an assado on an Argentinean hacienda – THINK MEAT; high tea in London, delicate pastries in Paris, simple poached salmon in Scotland, cassoulet in Carcassonne or seafood in the Mediterranean.  Above all, note the stark differences in preparation, ingredients, presentation and rituals accompanying the occasion.

Food chosen from local ingredients reflects our culture, tradition, heritage and history.  It is who we are as a people.  If this is what food means to you, then you will know that the most important ingredients for a meal are fresh organic produce, patience and love.  The importance of patience was best highlighted for me by an Indian friend who lets her curry simmer for a full day.  The flavours are thus infused holistically and the sum becomes far greater than the parts.
Finally, food is a ritual; we sit down together, hold hands, say grace and thank provenance for the good fortune of being able to indulge in this, the greatest of human activities:  mealtime.  In all of this, the persistent thread is patience.  These ideas are not unique and many of them are reflected in the work of the Slow Food Movement .

Now you too can come home in the evening, pour a glass of Avondale Camissa, assemble the ingredients, prepare the meal and savour the great joy of food as feast rather than function.

While it has been said that "a rose by any other name will smell as sweet," this is not necessarily the case with organic farming.  At Avondale we are committed to a natural approach to everything we do, and have the necessary certifications to prove that our methods have been audited to ensure strict compliance with organic principles.  While organic grape growing is as old as the history of winemaking, many people are still not quite sure what it all means.  We meet up with Johnathan Grieve to answer a few questions that are regularly posed at our tasting room:

Q:  What does it mean to be certified organic?
A:  I have written quite a lot on our natural, Bio-LOGIC methods of farming. While we follow this approach as part of the whole philosophy of Avondale, some markets expect us to have our processes verified through external agencies such as Control Union EU and USDA organic standards.  The whole of Avondale farm is certified organic and we are regularly inspected by the certification agencies to ensure compliance with the standards of organic viticulture.

Q:  While Avondale is certified organic, how do neighbouring farms who use artificial fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides and fungicides affect your vineyards?
A: Officially you have to have a 20-30m buffer zone with wind breaks to prevent chemical drift etc. This said, we are very fortunate to have none of our vineyards bordering our neighbours. We have huge natural strips and, of course, the backdrop to Avondale is the beautiful Cape Nature Reserve.

Q:  How long did it take for you to convert from conventional farming methods and to get organic certification for Avondale?
A: We started slowly in 2000, doing the basics first.  Everything starts in the soil so we started by cutting out all the chemical inputs and getting the life back by growing cover crops and specific inoculations. Our system really started to pick up speed in 2003 and we have not looked back since then.

Q:  How do you get away with not using harmful sprays while other farmers complain about the high cost of these insecticides, pesticides and herbicides?  Surely it would make financial sense to use as little of these sprays as possible?
A: We search nature for answers, and there is always a natural answer, whether it be ducks to control snails or organic nutrition to boost the natural health of the vineyards. It's a bit like your own health where if you eat a full nutrient dense diet the chance that you will get sick is reduced.  This is the same for plants.  That said, it does cost a lot of money to correct the wrongs of the last half century.

Q:  Are the yields lower when you follow organic principles in the vineyards?
A: Not necessarily.  If you have the full nutrition and healthy vineyards there is no reason why your crop should decrease. That said, at Avondale we regulate the amount of crop to produce the absolute best quality grapes, full of concentration and flavour. The trick is to get the perfect balance of crop and growth, and this is integral to producing extraordinary wines.

Q:  Is it more expensive to produce wine using organic principles?
A: It can be, especially in the short term. It all really depends on what condition your soil is in and for how long it was previously farmed chemically. You have to build the soil up to a living, thriving system and this takes time and money. Once you have the balance your costs start to decrease substantially. If you are making wine like we do, exceptional care is taken throughout the growing and vinification process that is focused on making honest handmade wines.  Of course, with anything done with this attention to detail there are expenses involved.

Q:  Are wines certified as organic free of sulphites?
A: Ah, the sulphur debate comes up again! The fact of the matter is that all wines have sulphites in them because sulphur occurs naturally in wine, even "No added Sulphur" wines have sulphur in them.  Organic wines have a maximum level of sulphur that is allowed which, generally speaking, is at least half that of the norm. At Avondale we strive to get even lower sulphur levels but at the same time making sure that a quality wine that can age well gets to our customers. Half of my family are asthmatics and they all love the wines and have no adverse effects because of the low level of sulphates.

Q:  What is the LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) accreditation that you have all about?
A:  LEAF is an organisation based in the UK that sets out to promote environmentally responsible farming.  This embraces a more holistic approach to knowing where your food comes from, how it was produced and also that it was done in a socially responsible way. It is not organic but really is about how you integrate farming with the environment and wildlife.

Q:  The million dollar question.  Are wines made from organic grapes necessarily better?
A:  For me, wines made using organic grapes can have incredible freshness and harmony that I ascribe to the soil, vine and environment being in balance.  It is, however, not only about the wine, but the whole approach to sustainable living that we believe in at Avondale.  Making and drinking organic wine is a lifestyle choice and, without a doubt, the right thing to do. At Avondale you will find wines with character, that have a life of their own and develop in the glass and they are, what I call, luminescent!

In mid-May the duck-shepherd, or self-named Duck-Wagter, prepares for the arrival of 100 day-old ducklings. He sets to work with the vigour and purpose of a surrogate mother hen cleaning and scrubbing the Duckmobile. I am sure it will interest you greatly to know that the duck is the only animal to have three collective nouns in brace, paddling and team. However, did you know the following facts?

After 45 days, the Duck-Wagter turns marine instructor on the brace and transforms them into the most efficient snail-killing machine known to man. Their training begins with getting them to walk-up the ramp of the duckmobile. Like potty training this has its humorous and awkward moments. Unlike Marines, they are quick to train and unleashed in the vineyards. The disciplined platoons taking in four rows at a time perform snail genocide. At the end of each row, a synchronised about turn sets them off on the next four rows until the block is completed. Exhausted they waddle into the Duckmobile and are transported valiantly home like Napoleon's conquering troops on the Champs-Elysées.

At daybreak to the sound of the tractor, they are visibly excited at the prospect of another day of feasting, racing one another onto the Duckmobile. Their joyful anticipation is tangible and a pleasure to watch.

More facts: Ducks are nature’s most efficient machine for dealing with snails. Other methods such as toxic bait simply do not work. Snails live in colonies and to get an even spread of toxic bait to the exact point where it is most needed is impossible. Too much and you simply poison the microflora, too little and the snails flourish. Toxic bait is useless to snails on the plant, whereas the ducks simply remove them wherever they find them. Even the sums make sense: cost of ducks R16 000, toxic baits R30 000 per time, and at least two sessions are needed a winter. Above all, it is simply nature’s way of finding a balance between pest and predator; why reinvent an inferior quality wheel?

At Avondale we believe that everyone can make a difference, even just by sitting back and enjoying a glass of our wine.

We are very proud of the fact that our Bio-LOGIC approach to vineyard management has seen a return of many species of wild animals to the farm, including a variety of raptors such as small falcons and owls.  Unfortunately some of these birds get hurt on their way to us or when hunting their prey, and need to be rehabilitated before being set free.  An organisation doing sterling work in this regard is the Witzenberg Wildlife Rescue and Rehab Centre and we have recently entered into an agreement with the Financial Mail and Diners Club Choice subscribers to donate a percentage of proceedings from wine sales to this noble cause.

Meryl and Rob Cochrane, the rehabilitators at the Witzenberg Wildlife Rescue and Rehab Centre, have been involved with wildlife rescue for many years and were suddenly getting a lot of calls asking for help with rescued birds. They were keen to help, but had nowhere really suitable to care for any birds and animals brought to them.  This put them on the path of building some basic facilities for the purpose of providing a tranquil, safe haven for injured and orphaned wildlife until they were ready to be released back into the wild.  They were given permission to put up some flight cages on a local farmer’s land and the vets in Ceres agreed to assist them in cases where they needed professional help.Cape Nature was consulted, a management plan drawn up and an application made for a permit.  In January 2009 Meryl and Rob were granted a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation permit and they began the construction of a very small wildlife rescue/ rehab centre.

During the course of the year the centre received a total of 69 birds, the majority of which were raptors, mainly owls.  Of these 32 were rehabilitated and subsequently released.  At the time of writing, they have 15 birds being rehabilitated in preparation for release.

Another large flight cage is badly needed before the next breeding season.  Different species cannot be mixed, and if the existing flight cages contain, for example, barn owls and spotted eagle owls, there is nowhere for buzzards and other large birds.

Do you need any better reason to enjoy Avondale wine, safe in the knowledge that your pleasure can also make the world a better place? We will be updating our website on a regular basis to show the contributions that we have been able to make due to your support.

Almost a decade of green farming was rewarded when Avondale received organic certification for the entire farm this month (September 2009).

Avondale now has three certified wine. They are Jonty’s Ducks 2007 , Chenin Blanc 2009 and Rosé 2009 .

Four years ago, 25 hectares of new vines on virgin soil were certified organic. Now, leading internationally accredited European agency Control Union, has certified the remaining 75 hectares planted to vines.

The certification is valid from the 2009 vintage. Chenin Blanc and Rosé from this vintage are available in South Africa and overseas at present. Other certified wines will be phased in over the next five years.

“This calls for lots of Avondale MCC Brut ,” says Johnathan Grieve.

“Over the last nine years we had been farming green, according to our own Bio-LOGIC principles, knowing that what we were doing was credible and sustainable.

“This is the proverbial cherry that top of the cake,” he says.

Bio-LOGIC is based on organic and biodynamic viticulture and modern science. Grapes for wine are grown without the use of fertilizer, be that organic or synthetic, pesticides or herbicides.

“While we are committed to our own unique way of Bio-LOGIC farming we can now show our organic commitment to most markets,” says Grieve.

 

The one question that pops up most frequently at our tasting room is whether organic wines are sulphur-free.  Somehow, lost in the mists of time, sulphur became a bogeyman and gets the blame for anything from headaches to hangovers, allergic reactions and many other kinds of aches and pains.

Let me start off by pointing out that sulphur is a mineral found naturally in many kinds of foods.  In winemaking it dates back to Roman times when sulphur was burnt in wine storage vessels to prevent the spoilage of wine.  Sulphur is a preservative and ensures the freshness of wine by counteracting oxidation and bacterial spoilage.  It is not only used in the making of wine but also to preserve other foodstuffs such as fruit juices, dried fruit and occurs naturally in tomatoes, egg yolks and even in certain types of vegetables.  Sulphur is also used regularly to treat many kinds of medical conditions, notably skin conditions and even the common cold.

As with most things in life it is all about responsible use.  A little sulphur is a good thing, but at certain levels it can act as an irritant and cause allergic reactions.  Certain upper limits have been set for the use of sulphur in wine, and to certify a wine as organic the total sulphur has to be much lower than that found in conventional wine.  At Avondale our wines are usually bottled with sulphur levels about half of what is allowed in conventional wine (the limits differ between white, red and sparkling wines), so while organic wine is not sulphur-free, it tends to have far lower levels.

Our winemaker, Corné Marais, also insists on maturing our wines without the addition of sulphur, waiting till the last moment before bottling to add a bit of sulphur, thereby ensuring the longevity of our wines and that every bottle reaches your table as a fresh and delicious wine.

For those people who do find that they have a negative reaction to wines with too much sulphur we can recommend our Avondale Brut MCC.  With a total sulphur of only about 70 parts per million this is less than half of the legal limit for conventional winemaking and sure to lift the spirits of even the most sensitive of wine drinkers.