REYNEKE WINES

Biodynamic Winemaking. The future lies right at the beginning. There's a lot to be said for the way wine used to be made. Back when the Reyneke farm first began as ‘Uitzicht’ in1863, there were no chemicals or technological advancements. Just the land and nature. Uitzicht (which is the Dutch for ‘View’) is perched overlooking Stellenbosch and False Bay. It has north, east and south facing slopes. The best land is planted with vines and the remainder complements the vineyards with pasture, compost-making and pockets of wilderness. It’s the kind of balance that’s far more important than ensuring the spreadsheets all balance out. And it’s the true, time-honoured tradition of winemaking. A biodynamic farm is often seen as an ‘individuality’. It needs to be self-sustainable and self-supporting. This is important for two reasons; firstly, to reduce carbon footprint; and secondly, to be less affected by market forces. If the farm can produce its own fertilizer and compost, this will mean it’s less dependent on trucking-in fertilizer in clouds of diesel exhausts. If the farm is self sufficient, their own cow manure ‘costs’ the same every day, irrespective of the price of oil. This understanding is simply the tip of an harmonious iceberg. Our philosophy of “waste not, want not” runs deep into sustainability. Whatever we use, we carefully think about re-using, re-purposing or recycling.

With biodynamic farming, the soil becomes ‘alive’. We let this energize the cellar. The dream of any serious winemaker is to find a place of perfect position, where the soil composition is special and the climate just right. The idea is then to express these characteristics in the grapes and so produce a wine that uniquely reflects the site. No artificial additives in the farming process is a practice that continues in the cellar. We follow a non-intervention approach to make the wine, rather guiding the winemaking process in order to display the individuality of the Uitzicht farm. So you won’t find commercially cultivated yeast or bacteria, acid adjustments or fermentation aids and so on. Only natural solutions to natural challenges.