Blog
As featured in Issue 6 of Waterkloof – The News. Read the full digital version here.
We follow a biodynamic approach because…
The farm is a living entity and should be treated as one.
Mother Nature sets our deadlines…
We do all vineyard work (such as pruning, harvesting and suckering) according to moon, sun, earth and planet phases, in order to get the most use of the vines’ growth throughout the season.
Who’s who in the zoo…
Our farming team includes horses, cattle, sheep and chickens:
– Our Percheron horses are used in place of tractors to plough, compost, spray and harvest
– Our cattle provide manure for our biodynamic preparations and compost
– Our sheep graze in the vineyards, eating weeds and enriching the soil with nitrogen from their manure
– Our hens roam freely amongst the vines, eating vine weevils and laying fresh eggs for use in the restaurant
Soil health is vital…
All of our farming efforts are aimed at preserving and nourishing the soils – and encouraging the growth of essential organisms – in which our vines grow.
We make use of biodynamic preparations…
To reintroduce living organisms into the soil. This allows the soil to become a living entity and we interfere as little as possible.
We make tons of compost every year…
Our compost contains all of our biodynamic preparations, along with a rich mix of well-fermented manure (from our animals) and organic materials (from our restaurant kitchen).
It gets a little wriggly…
Our earthworm farm (made using old wine barrels) provides rich compost, which use as a nourishing spray on our vines. The worm “tea” is also used in our organic veggie garden.
Along the grapevine…
This approach allows our vines to become self reliant, with stronger shoots, thicker leaves and deeper root systems.
You can taste the difference…
With biodynamic grapes, the vineyards are naturally balanced, and therefore fewer additions to the wine are required. This results in more flavour in the bottle. In contrast, commercially grown grapes produce wines that require more additions, such as acid, to balance the taste.
So, in a nutshell…
We let the weeds look after the soil structure, let the living organisms and animals enrich the soil – as nature intended – and we harvest the rewards with our unique wines.