Welcome to the blog of Johnathan Grieve.
I am the proprietor of Avondale wine estate, and pioneer of the BioLOGIC® approach to sustainable viticulture. The transformation of Avondale from over-used and abused land into a thriving, robust vineyard ecosystem has been a personal learning journey of more than a decade long. This blog is where I share some of what I have learnt about promoting life on our farm and the wonderful impact this has had on our handcrafted premium quality wines.
Johnathan Grieve
Another Extraordinary Asian City Experience – Jakarta
My travels in Asia last month included visiting the bustling mega-city of Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, where we attended a trade show. We enjoyed a phenomenal reception for Avondale wines in this island country of 200 million people where the wine market is still in a developing phase. Like many emerging wine markets, there is a keen focus on red wines and bubbles; as well as a refreshing attitude to wine culture and the openness to explore and experience wines without preconceptions.
An Extraordinary Asian City Experience – Tokyo
Tokyo itself is an extraordinary experience! This capital city of Japan, and one of the world’s three world economy “command centres” is amazingly first-world. Spotlessly clean and perfectly well-ordered, it is the most populous metropolis in the world with more than 13 million people who are unfailingly polite and respectful of each other’s space, until it comes to getting on and off the underground trains, which is a bustle! One of the highlights of my stay was a dinner out with clients at a superb sashimi restaurant in the Ginza, Tokyo’s famous upmarket shopping, dining and entertainment district.
Nutrients and their impact on healthy plant growth – N is for Nitrogen
In contrast to the lack of awareness of the importance of plant nutrients such as boron, silicon and sulphur, it is probably safe to say, that every farmer is well-aware of the role of nitrogen in plant growth. The issues with nitrogen are different. Nitrogen is a chemical element with the symbol N and the atomic number 7. In its elemental form, it is an abundant gas throughout the universe. Nitrogen occurs in all living organisms, mostly in amino acids, and therefore proteins, but also in the nucleic acids of every living cell. It is essential to all life on Earth.
There are three main sources of Nitrogen: Atmosphere, Organic Protein Decay and Fertilizers.
Nutrients and their impact on healthy plant growth – S is for Sulphur
We continue with our series of articles about the biochemical sequence necessary for healthy plant growth. The biochemical sequence is an explanation of the cycles, and the roles that biochemicals play in the development of plants. You can read back on this blog about the fascinating interplay of boron, silicon and calcium.
In these previous articles, I’ve drawn the analogy that when it comes to their roles in healthy plant growth, boron is like the driver, silicon is the highway and calcium is the truck. To continue the comparison, the fourth element in the sequence, sulphur, can be likened to the key in the ignition. Sulphur, represented on the periodic table by the symbol S and bearing the atomic number 16, is an abundant non-metal element, and it is the classic catalyst in organic chemistry. When it comes to plant growth, nothing – not even boron, would work without sulphur.
Launch of Avondale’s Cyclus 2010 vintage celebrated at the Mount Nelson’s Chef Table
What a pleasure it was to experience the amazing cooking of the Mount Nelson’s Executive Chef Rudi Liebenberg at our lunch-time launch of the 2010 vintage of Avondale’s Cyclus. I was joined by award-wining wine writer, Joanne Gibson, and it is not every day that you are seated and served at the Chef’s Table in the iconic hotel’s kitchen.
The Gifts of the Three Kings
The biodynamic farmer can use the Three Kings preparation in a number of different ways, such as stirring up the tincture in a solution in the prescribed way and sprinkling it as you walk the boundary of your farm. At Avondale, we make use of it in our field broadcaster which contains a map of our farm. Sceptics may say that there is no way that a homeopathic remedy such as this could have any influence on protecting one’s farm from natural disaster. However, our recent experience of a raging inferno that bore down on Avondale for three days and nights; and yet repeatedly turned away at our boundaries, makes me thankful that we have included the Three Kings in our biodynamic way of farming!
The 2013 Inferno – An Extraordinary Experience for Avondale
So some of you may ask how this is possibly an extraordinary experience, well, let me explain. We had all gathered around the foot of the mountain waiting to defend the 2013 harvest. Staring at the fire with morbid fascination and huge amount of worry I looked to my right and left and saw all our staff standing by my side ready to risk all to stop the fire! This was not prompted or even asked, everybody was just willing to help. Interspersed between us were a large amount of friends who arrived to help with their “Bakkie sakkies” and eagerness to defeat the fire! AMAZING!