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
AUTHENTICITY in wine can be overrated. A bottle that perfectly expresses a lousy site is destined to give very little pleasure, no matter how good the wine-making.
Article written by Michael Fridjhon
© Business Day Friday 29 July 2011
AUTHENTICITY in wine can be overrated. A bottle that perfectly expresses a lousy site is destined to give very little pleasure, no matter how good the wine-making.
Weeds, and What they tell you
Weeds might be the bane of the conventional farmer, but at Avondale we regard them as storytellers that are worth listening to. Every weed has an ideal environment that it likes to grow in. If a soil is out of balance – deficient in certain minerals, too acid or too alkaline, a specific profile of weeds will grow there as living testimony to the particular environmental condition. Really hardy, pioneering weeds are the narrators of very deficient soils.
Camera! Lights! Avondale’s Biodiversity in Action!
The first vintage under the Avondale label was produced in 1999, and then a year later, a catastrophic fire swept down the mountains onto the farm, leaving the land in ashes. It was a calamity at the time but it also marked the real turning point in the farm’s history. We had the opportunity to start afresh; to truly sculpt the land and its natural systems in an unfettered, sustainable way. I had the space, a blank canvas, to develop our unique approach to viticulture, BioLOGIC®.
Avondale launches La Luna 2006
Article written by Pia Taylor
© Mother City Living Wednesday 30 March 2011
Avondale Estate is one of my very favourite wineries out there, not just because they take earth-friendly organic and biodynamic measures to new heights, but because they make fabulous wines as well (not that I’m a wine buff – I just know what I like).
I’m looking forward to trying out their latest addition to their range, the La Luna 2006.
Bottled sustainability
Article written by Shanthini Naidoo
© The Times Wednesday 04 April 2011
Winemaking has developed over centuries and is steadily evolving – often with sustainability and biodiversity in mind.
“Organic” winemaking has moved beyond using organic fertilisers on vines and now also consider s the soil, water, plant and animal life in and around wineries.
“It is about enhancing nature. Field transmitters, for instance, tap into cosmic influences and energy. Everything on earth has its own signal – biodynamic forces like lunar influences and energy from the solar system. We use these to our benefit and to create an environment that is positive.
Reading nature has rewards
Article written by Myrna Robins
© Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition) Saturday 02 April 2011
Just occasionally, one comes across a vinous operation where diverse strands have been woven into a tapestry of truly impressive synergy.
It’s not often that this column focuses on wines with cellar door prices averaging more than R200, as not only is this more than most are willing to pay but the products don’t always merit their price tags.
Avondale offers an exception with its carefully crafted and themed range, where viticultural practices – fine-tuned to sustain a flourishing ecosystem – have contributed substantially to results.
Avondale adds QR code to their new exclusive collection
Article written by Avondale
Publish by Wine.co.za 28 March 2011
Avondale, an eco-friendly wine estate near Paarl, has added modern Quick Response (QR) codes to its newly-revamped range of hand-crafted organic wines. Avondale combines organic and biodynamic practices with the best that modern science has to offer to craft extraordinary slow wines.