The Flagstone Vineyard Philosophy

The grapes we use for Flagstone wines come primarily from rented vineyard land we manage ourselves. We currently have about 100 ha under Flagstone management. We also bring in grapes from our family farm in the Overberg Highlands.

Our core supplying vineyards under management are in the Tulbagh Valley (an ancient volcano), the southern most wine growing area, Elim, high up in the Ashton Mountains and around our winery in Somerset West. Our family farm, Appelsdrift, is situated on the slopes of the Akkedisberg in the Overberg Highlands. )

Viticultural strategies are specifically tailored to individual varieties and vineyard parameters. The natural environment in which the vines grow and bear fruit play a huge role in the style and quality of the resultant wine and we go to great lengths to study and know everything we can about that environment. This includes careful soil analysis, and an on-going study of climate parameters.

We have introduced some original (or at least unknowingly re-invented) viticultural techniques, such as our “Late-season Extension Suckering” technique to help (with adjusted irrigation management) reduce berry size and promote vine balance in naturally effervescent growers like Shiraz. This technique involves leaving three to four eyes on each spur position and so allow the vine to initially carry 30% more crop that you expect it to ripen. Just after veraison we go through the vineyard and remove the furthest cane from the cordon, fruit, leaves and all. This technique is now being used more and more in South African vineyards and successfully encourages even and faster ripening of tannins, and flavour and colour concentration.

Other innovations include quite radical canopy architectural management techniques for Sauvignon Blanc and some soil-specific irrigation beliefs.

As a company we are totally committed to our world-leading “Integrated Production of Wine” (IPW) scheme and are fully behind the “Biodiversity in Wine Initiative” (BWI).

Since the Second World War global agriculture has without malicious intent embarked on a self-destructive path of unbalanced chemical fertilisation. It’s a long, tortuous story that continues to leave farmers underpaid and undervalued. This trajectory has led to unhealthy, unbalanced soil that cannot fully hope to support the plants and crops swaying in the wind above it. These plants are disadvantaged by the imbalance and cannot protect themselves. Their disease status in turn demands chemical herbicides and insecticides.

The result is a spiral of unnatural imbalance which not only results in pollutants but far more importantly produces plants with radically reduced nutrient potential. Some recent agronomist reports suggest that in comparison with our grandparents we are getting only about 30% of the nutrient value from our the food.

It is not surprising that WHO (the World Health Organisation) recently released a massive report that couldn’t find any disease (1^st World or Developing World) that wasn’t linked to nutrition.

So we should all realise by now that we have a responsibility to turn this around. In first world cities we have massive opportunities to affect change. These include educating ourselves about the nutritional value and healthiness of everything we eat and drink. Farmers have fewer but more far-reaching opportunities to affect change. We all have to start farming in a sustainable way. This will mean different things for different farmers.

Biodiversity is about the diversity of all life forms on our planet. Unsurprisingly they are getting fewer at an alarming rate. Quite by chance South African winegrowers happen to live in one of the richest, most biodiverse places on earth. Our floral biodiversity alone is mind-boggling. Within the compact Cape floral kingdom which is where we farm there are more plant species than the entire northern hemisphere.

And so the responsible grape-growers and winemakers in South Africa have welcomed the opportunity to work closely with environmentalists to focus on protecting our unique environment. We are committed to farming as sustainably as possible; farming with respect to our land, our people and our heritage. This is the basis of the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative.

We hope to expand this philosophy and to use existing structures and industry schemes to regulate sustainable wine-farming from government level downwards. Most South African wine-farmers (over 90%) and winemakers are already participating in the two main self-regulating industry structures (IPW and BWI) that will hopefully set the tone in the next three years for the most sustainable, eco-friendly viticulture in the world. The first step on this hard road is our industry’s enthusiastic commitment to the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative.

I am committed to this vision and I believe most of my peers know in their hearts that this is the right way to go. Unfortunately it isn’t going to be easy, which is obviously why it hasn’t been attempted elsewhere. Luckily for us in South Africa we have a unique set of circumstances that is ensuring we make this dream a reality. Primarily we are used to the hard road and since our dramatic miracle of democracy; we know what’s possible if we stand together.

From a practical winemaker’s perspective we all recognise instantly that the same factors that have created this extraordinary biodiversity of flora also influence wine style and quality. The staggering diversity of soil types and soil ages, combined with radically differing climates over short distances mean we have a treasure trove of grape-growing and winemaking opportunities.

At Flagstone we call this aspect of our natural biodiversity: “Home Ground Advantage”. It means we can make more complex wines at every price point – a wonderful advantage in this tough, competitive world of wine. In fact, it’s almost impossible not to make interesting wine in the oldest, most diverse viticultural soil in the world.