Organic wine making is not just good for the environment when done correctly it also produces a truly rich and flavourful glass of wine.
Producers have to forego modern wine making techniques the use of fungicides, pesticides and commercial yeasts and their harvest is dictated to by Mother Nature and the type of grape produced.
Tucked away in the Paardeberg, just outside Cape Town is the Fybos Estate where molecular biologist turned wine-maker Johan Simons is doing just that.
“My aim is to make wines as it was made in 1900,” says Simons.
“I don’t pretend to make bulk wine, this isn’t Coca Cola,” he adds.
Simons says: “I chose 1900 as a wine making year to emulate because by then copper and sulphur as fungicides were available, there were no commercial yeasts. Wine making was to a large extent non-interventionist. Natural wines and natural wine making appealed to me then and still does.”
The 16 hectares of non-irrigated organically grown bush vines have produced, arguably the best grape for the 2015 range of wines.
“We had fantastic winter rains in 2013 and 2014 and it was dry after that with no diseases,” says Simons.
The Dragonridge Pinotage is a flavourful triumph, first is the burst of red berries and then a caffeine taste that lingers.
Because of this is a boutique winery only 1600 bottles of the 2015 Pinotage has been produced.
The Chenin Blanc, Capella 2015 is fruity and flavourful an easy drink for any dinner table and meal.
Simons says for their 2015 harvest for Chenin Blanc they started in mid January and finished in February which helped them get the best grape.
This organic range is low in sulphur and similar to the wine-making method is effortless but impactful.