in the vineyard : Farm Manager: Hennie van der Westhuizen
Background
The grapes for the Earthbound range of mostly organic wines are sourced from Fairtrade-?accredited Papkuilsfontein Vineyards near Darling, close to South Africa's rugged West Coast. The farm has 375 ha under vine of which 173 ha is organically grown.
Organic
The vines were certified as organic by the Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS) after athree-?year conversion process.
Fairtrade-accredited
For every ton of grapes harvested for this wine, apremium of €0,50 is paid that goes towards projects intended to benefit workers on the farm, Papkuilsfontein Vineyards, near Darling. Ajoint body, representing the workers decides on how premiums will be spent.
BWI member
Papkuilsfontein is amember of the Biodiversity &Wine Initiative that seeks to protect the wealth of biodiversity found in the Cape Floral Kingdom by rehabilitating land on wine farms to indigenous habitat.
Vineyards
The grapes from this wine come from two dry-farmed blocks trellised on a three-wire hedge system, planted in 1999 and 2000
in the cellar : Each vineyard block was individually vinified, with some receiving skin contact for up to six hours to enhance flavour extraction and to temper the acidity. The fruit was crushed and cool-?fermented in temperature-?controlled stainless steel tanks at 13° to 14º C. The wine was left on the lees for a short period to enhance the mouthfeel and ageing potential.