The Pekin Duck Snail Army

I have known the Grieve family since 1958.  The current custodian’s grandmother Julie and my mother Dulce were the stalwarts of the National Council of Woman and the Black Sash and village municipal councillors and ultimately Julie became Mayor of Durbanville and my mother became Mayor of Gordon’s Bay

In those early days, the Grieves ran a successful business known as Vital Health Foods if memory serves me correctly producing health supplements.

Avondale the beautiful

Now the family, under the custodianship of Johnathan Grieve, Julie’s grandson runs a superb winemaking operation in Paarl called Avondale.

The first thing that must be said is that Avondale produces some sublime wines.  They don’t enter wine competitions or shows, so they have no medals to prove it, but they have a good fan base and plenty of red lines in the Platter Guide.  From Les Pleurs, through the Avondale Reserve range, the Green Duck range, the delicious Organic Range and the very special Fortified Range – there is a wine for every taste and at every price.  Read more.

Following a philosophy using what Johnathan describes as Bio-Logic, using the key elements of both organic and biodynamic farming methods, the family produces organic wines that are certified internationally.  This means that no artificial fertilisers and insecticides are used, but rather effective cover crops that feed the soils.

Johnathan Grieve & The Rich Avondale Soils

This system of cover-cropping and mulching is used to create a living eco-system upon the soil and to generate nitrogen-binding while and other natural preparations propagate fungi growth for plant feed.  Amongst them is the well-known wild aromatic rosemary called Snow White after which the Avondale Viognier is named.  These cover crops which are hardy plants with low water needs can survive mowing and are seeded into areas where their ability to grow in very rocky soils, where their scents and flowers attract natural predators and they have an ability to enrich the soil with nitrogen.

On of the more charming of the Avondale predators is a flock of Pekin ducks, an effective and cost saving snail eradication army.   They are also able to control worms and downy mildew using naturally occurring bacteria. A predatory wasp is released to combat mealy bug.

Water management is also vital on Avondale, particularly the use of wastewater from the cellar.  A system of three dams is interlinked with spiraling channels, which in effect creates a river system. The channels are planted with cleansing reeds that extract all the excessive nutrients in the water and converts them into green material that is used in the production of compost.  This is nature working at her hardest, a natural self-sustaining filter system.  In the second and third dams, bird and insect life returns to the water, as the system is healthy.

Vineyard practices make use of specialist “green” machines for brush cutting, disc hoeing, shoot tipping and leaf removal.  Read more…

Red wines maturing gently

Cellar practices include the use of natural wild yeasts for fermentation.  Wines contain less than half the normal sulphur content – a great boon to those who have sulphur allergies.  Standard organic practices such as no synthetic cleaning or sterilizing chemicals are used.  For more technical information, read more…

Avondale, committed to improving the lives of farm workers and their families, in 2004 won the Paarl Shiraz Challenge.  The prize money was used in conjunction with the Waitrose Foundation to set up a crèche and day care centre for the children of Avondale’s farm workers.  Read more…

Creche Kids with their "wormery"

When you are farming like this, you tend to attract all sorts of wildlife, particularly owls that hunt for rodents in the vineyards.  Avondale is affiliated to the Witzenberg Wildlife Rescue and Rehab Centre run by Meryl and Rob Cochrane which does sterling rehabilitation work with all manner of birds.  Proceeds from the sale of Avondale wines goes to this worthy cause. Read more….

Avondale is also linked to LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) a British organisation that promotes environmentally responsible farming.   Leaf helps farmers produce good food and produce, with care and to high environmental standards.  Leaf also builds public understanding of food and farming

Avondale is well worth a visit and is easily accessible from the N1 about 45 minutes from Cape Town.

Winegrowing area Paarl
Owners The Grieve Family
R301 on the eastern side of Paarl
P.O. Box 602 Suider Paarl 7624
Western Cape, South Africa
Telephone +27 21 863 1976880fax +27 21 863 1534
Email: info@avondalewine.co.za Web: www.avondalewine.co.za

S33° 45’52.9” E019° 0’4.7”