Jordan Wine Estate, the Stellenbosch Kloof premium wine destination founded by Gary and Kathy Jordan, and Painted Wolf Wines, the leading conservation wine company founded by Jeremy and Emma Borg, have announced a business partnership aimed at collectively making a significant and lasting impact on wildlife conservation.
The implementation of the partnership will take place over the next 12 months. Its aim is to produce the Painted Wolf wines in the newly refurbished Jordan Wine Estate cellar from 2025 and open a new brand home for Painted Wolf Wines towards the latter part of the year.
Jordan Wine Estate continues to achieve substantial sustainability and conservation goals:
- As founding members of the Bottelary Hills Renosterveld Conservancy (BHRC), they are committed to sustainable farming practices, fire management, and indigenous habitat preservation.
- They proudly participate in the Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) scheme, adhering to international environmental sustainability criteria.
- Jordan is a founder member of the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative, a conservation partnership between the Botanical Society of South Africa, WWF South Africa, and the wine industry. Its objective is to promote conservation within the Cape Floral Kingdom.
- A significant investment in renewable energy has seen photovoltaic solar panels installed on the Jordan cellar roof.
- Jordan Estate has long funded the Jordan Chameleon Research Bursary through which the tuition and research costs of a PhD student are funded by a percentage of the proceeds from the worldwide sales of the Jordan Chameleon range.
In 2024 they were awarded the Bellingham Bernard Podlashuk Shiraz Trophy, celebrating excellence, innovation, creativity, sustainability, and social responsibility within the South African wine industry.
Gary and Kathy Jordan see the conservation partnership "a synergy between two companies with complementary skill sets and offerings that together will create a business that will be far greater than the sum of the parts. This innovative collaboration will build on what Jeremy and Emma have created, vital for the continued benefit of wildlife and conservation."
Painted Wolf Wines is a uniquely visionary wine company and has donated over R4 million to the African wild dog and related conservation and community projects throughout Southern Africa through the creation and sales of a vibrant and eclectic range of wines from sustainably farmed, organic and heritage vineyards.
Painted Wolf's focus is on drought-resistant varieties. Over the years they have attracted many local and international accolades, including the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show's Most Successful Producer in 2019. Painted Wolf Wines is also the recipient of a Cheetah Award from the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) in recognition of their services to conservation.
Founder and winemaker Jeremy Borg says: "I first met Gary and Kathy in the early 1990s on a trip from the US and was one of the first visitors to Jordan. Some years later Emma, in her former guise as a wildlife photographer, took photos on Jordan, one of which was utilised on the label of our initial wine project, Borg Family Wines. It is serendipitous that we should be embarking on an exciting partnership 30 years since we first met.
"Our quest to be the leading conservation wine company in South Africa led us to acknowledge that we needed a like-minded but better-resourced partner. We knew that Gary and Kathy are also passionate about conservation, and they have an impressive track record of with various projects. I had thought of approaching Gary for some time, and in July 2023 we met in London, where I pitched the idea of a partnership. Gary and Kathy were immediately interested (it turns out that the wild dog is Kathy's favourite animal) and we are thrilled to enter this partnership to build on the successes of our 20-year journey in wine and conservation and bring increased resources to continue to build the top premium conservation wine brand in South Africa."
A key goal of the partnership, along with a wine range consolidation in sync with climate-change models, will be to ensure the products are well distributed and accessible to consumers who want an adventure into conservation and tourism in Africa.
The new brand home and visitor centre will be a destination where guests will be informed and educated regarding wild dog and broader wildlife conservation matters, as well as experience the Painted Wolf agritourism offering in its entirety.
The partnership sets to invoke the spirit and character of the highly social African wild dog as the most effective collective hunters who work in harmony for the success of all.