During Greenpop’s recent Reforest Fest at Bodhi Khaya Nature Retreat in Stanford, a wine tasting in collaboration with WWF South Africa was held in an effort to create momentum around sustainable wine farming practices. The Conservation Wine Tent honoured five statement-worthy wine champions and admired their efforts in protecting nature through a unique tasting.
Thanks to our South African palettes, wine is fortunately not an elusive pleasure to come by. We live in a time where grapes are the equivalent of gold and a bottle is a gift of love. As a community, we have shared stories, special holidays, and priceless moments with one another over earthy aromas and round flavours. Wine has formed the basis of many friendships and partnerships. Its embodiment of trust and connection is a unique language that is often spoken between us South Africans.
With wine being so deeply rooted in our identity, even for those who don’t drink it, it becomes onerous to avoid. Tied to many beautiful and culturally rich moments, wine farms are used for more than the wine itself. Locally, our treasured Cape Winelands are utilized for things such as fine dining, fruit picking, adventuring, markets, sports and escaping into the sublime scenery of vineyards and surrounding mountains.
Simply, wine is not just wine, it is also the varietals, the fertile soil, the water, the surrounding ecosystems and the wildlife. Wine is the people who tend to the vineyards, harvest, crush, press, ferment and age the wine. It is a collection of resources that hold significant influence and meaning in our country.
Both the people and resources associated with wine farming form part of the Western Cape’s agricultural sector and play a large role in supporting our economy. From baring high-quality fruits, citrus, dairy products, grains, multi-scale stock and vegetables, our diverse and rich land aids in various social and economic successes as well as challenges.
A unique wine tasting with WWF Conservation Champions
Although choosing a 750ml glass bottle of wine off the shelf doesn’t seem as if it would lead to the decimation of the world, the wine and agriculture industry is silently degrading natural surroundings. Our beloved whites, reds, and rosés, to to name a few, bring such abundant experiences, as well as deleterious effects. Unknowingly and more often than not unspoken about is the negative impact this industry imposes.
Festivalgoers drinking wine in the Conservation Wine Tent. Photo: Jessie Leverzenchie
We recently held Greenpop’s annual Reforest Fest where we, alongside with WWF South Africa, embraced the need for the conversation surrounding the shift to sustainable and environmentally responsible farming practices.
We hosted our very own wine tasting in partnership with the respectable and impressionable WWF Conservation Champions. They are environmental leaders in the South African wine industry that, according to WWF South Africa, are "farming with nature, not against it". Some of the wine brands featured in our tasting included Strandveld, LOSTBOY, Warwick, Boland Cellar, and Skipskop Wines.
In the spirit of the festival, we had an overarching theme of environmental responsibility which included an emphasis on our consumer choices, as well as on eco-tourism. The Conservation Wine Tent provided festival goers with the chance to learn how wine-making and sustainability can work hand-in-hand. It also allowed us to place a spotlight on the richly diverse, world-class wineries the Western Cape boasts, which also happen to be doing amazing work for the environment.
The WWF Conservation Champions featured at Reforest Fest earned their title due to their committed efforts in utilising regenerative and environmentally-friendly farming methods, conserving their land's natural areas, and bettering water and waste management. In exchange for their committed engagement with WWF and their programmes, the champions can label their bottles with a sugarbird and protea logo for easy recognition - so keep an eye out!
Each of the five chosen wine farms encompasses the meaning of conservation and sustainability within the wine industry. The farms were selected as a means to educate others and relay the story of their sustainable agriculture journey and the reputable farming practices they have implemented.
To accompany these notable wines, we had Honest Chocolate, an artisanal chocolate brand based in Cape Town, join our Conservation Wine Tent on Easter Sunday and offer a chocolate and wine pairing. Pairing wines such as Warwick and Boland Cellar with meticulously selected taste-testing chocolate from the Honest Chocolate range, made for a beautiful and memorable way to bring sustainable brands together.
Chocolate and wine pairing in the Conservation Wine Tent. Photo: Thulani Swartbooi
WWF Conservation Champions
WWF is an inspiring organisation that is known for its efforts in protecting our natural resources and environments. They started the WWF Conservation Champions initiative, and are doing an outstanding job of encouraging wine farms to conserve the natural environment, by switching to environmentally-friendly farming methods.
The WWF Conservation Champions programme is a true testament to what is possible when industries change their practices to promote a greener tomorrow and showcases the work done by a collection of environmentally-minded wineries, heading in the right direction for future generations.
Following a structure of voluntary membership, wineries are eager to better their farming practices to make them more biodiversity-friendly. WWF assist them to formulate appropriate management plans, realistic targets, and implement action-based initiatives concerning their wine farms' environmental risks.
This initiative in turn both protects biodiversity within South Africa's wine lands but also sets an inspirational example for other wine farms, both locally and globally, and encourages consumers to invest their money into feasible and green industries. The wine industry forms a significant part of the South African economy and thus such an ethical initiative ensures the wine industry has a sustainable future ahead of it.
Wine grapes in the vineyard. Photo: Warwick Wine Estate
A few closing words from Misha Teasdale, our director
We live in one of the most beautiful parts of the planet, rich in biodiversity, culture and landscapes. More than this we are surrounded by exquisite wines which compete on a world stage. Since the modernisation of agriculture has been normalised and due to the ever-expanding footprint of agricultural landscapes, nature has been under attack. It doesn't have to be this way. I firmly believe that if you produce wine, you have a love for nature and the natural world. It's part of your DNA. Your art is in those vines, those hills, those winds.
Conventional practices have blindsided our understanding and approach to the way we engage with industries so directly reliant on ecosystem services. Only, these services are the backbone to not only these industries' survival, but all industries.
Greenpop has, since our inception, partnered up with wine farms challenging the traditional and historic ways of farming. Seeing that people care so dearly about wine, perhaps forming deep partnerships with those who are making meaningful strides in the industry could allow us to play a small, but significant role in creating behavioural changes. There is an ongoing shift within the wine industry towards a more sustainable and ethical mindset and being able to aid in this great change towards a world of harmony, is something that we can be a part of.
We view working in union with the WWF Conservation Wine Champions label as an opportunity to both celebrate the transformative work they do for nature, and educate our audience in a way that they can better understand the valuable role they play in changing this industry.
Consumers invest in wines through the only way we know how, our wallets. Showing interest in the farms that care so deeply and are not only talking about, but rather actively implementing changes with nature as a clear focus, is a real game changer. We have the potential to encourage consumers to spend their money consciously and wisely and make their vote towards a more sustainable wine future.