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
Best days on the planting calendar for wine-tasting
Many biodynamic and organic growers attest to using the calendar as a guide to farming activities for spectacular results. Believing that wine is a living product that responds to the moon’s rhythms in the ways that organisms do, it is particularly recognized that fruit and flower days are most beneficial to wine-tasting, while leaf, and especially root days are regarded as unfavourable.
Camera! Lights! Avondale’s Biodiversity in Action!
There’s pretty much nothing more affirming of life on the farm than coming across other species raising their families! Here’s a series of photographs captured by my father, John Grieve, while he was observing a nest belonging to a pair of Malachite Sunbirds, nectarine famosa.
Hello Doctor
Residue from pesticides and the Sulphur Dioxide often added to non-organic wines can play havoc on the sinuses- which is why those who suffer from allergies will often avoid a glass of red!
Andrea du Plessis, a nutrition expert from the health and lifestyle TV show ‘Hello Doctor’ which broadcasts on SABC on Sundays at 4pm, visited Avondale to find out more about our BioLOGIC® wines and nature-friendly, harmonious approach to farming.
Jonty’s Ducks
Have a look at our latest video clip showing Johnathan and his ducks.
Biodynamic farming and the Energy of Place
Avondale’s Viognier blend, Cyclus is the wine that we chose to represent our unique cosmic connections. Cyclus’s emblem is the spiral which can be found in every aspect of Nature. Its expression in liquids is the vortex which is easily observed in the unexpected, creative whorls and eddies in flowing water.
Whirlwind Wine Tour of Brazil
One of the things you have got to love about the wine business is the opportunity to travel and introduce our premium quality South African wines to the wider world. I recently enjoyed a whistle-stop tour around Brazil that included lots of wine tastings and gourmet meals in Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, Port Allegro and Sao Paolo.
In harmonie met die natuur
Artikel deur Samarie Smith
© Die Burger Saterdag 6 Augustus 2011
Die gehalte van wyn is belangrik. Maar nóg belangriker is hoe so natuurlik moontlik jy daarby uitkom. Samarie Smith het op die Avondale-wynplaas gaan inloer om meer oor dié wynmakers se interaksie met moederaarde te leer.