Just six months ago, the level of Cape Town’s dams had dropped below 21%. Theewaterskloof, the largest with a capacity of 480 188 million litres had sunk to a pathetic 10% dribble. Parts of the winelands were even worse off. Water restrictions followed by increased tariffs brought out consumers’ many innovative water-saving methods. For most, saving water has become part of life.
Fast-forward to October 2018 and winter rains have left dams 76% full; Theewaterskloof itself is just short of 60%.
As we’re all breathing a sigh of relief, so summer suddenly arrives. The rainy season is over, but vine growing and winemaking continue. While water plays an important role as rainfall or irrigation in vineyards, rarely mentioned is its equal importance in the running of cellars.
With allocations slashed, winemakers have had to devise methods to save water in the winemaking process. They have come up with diverse solutions.
Delheim’s Victor Sperling admitted straight up: ‘Changing employees’ attitude is at the top of the list. ‘If you do not get everyone to understand and appreciate the importance of water saving, it will never work no matter what equipment you put in place.’ Sperling notes a particular disadvantage for them is having an old cellar; ‘water saving is an important part of design criteria today.’
Driving the message home is also part of the Reyneke approach; notices everywhere, including for visitors in the tasting room, remind water is scarce.
Reminders in Chris and Andrea Mullineux’s Swartland and Franschhoek cellars are the water meters they installed to track daily usage.
All three producers have adopted a similar strategy to cleaning the cellar.
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