Green profile: Villiera

The Villiera winery outside Stellenbosch in South Africa has long been a firm advocate of maintaining environmentally friendly vineyard management practices.

The methods of the Grier family, who bought the winery in 1983, have seen Villiera develop into one of the largest private wineries in the country.

Award-winning winemaker Jeff Grier crafts a range of wines characterised by a strong reflection of Villiera’s unique terroir and the retention of the distinct aromas and flavours of the different varietals.

Environmental awareness

Viticulturist Simon Grier has not sprayed insecticides for the past ten years and a flock of 1,000 Peking ducks are responsible for some natural pest control.

There is a strong focus on water conservation, recycling and a greening project (currently in progress), which entails the planting of 1,000’s of indigenous trees on the farm.

This philosophy has led to a vibrant eco-system on the farm, including huge flocks of guinea fowl and pheasant as well as steenbok, Cape foxes, grey mongooses, porcupines and the threatened blue crane.

In addition, Villiera opened a 175 hectare wildlife sanctuary in 2009 where they have introduced springbock, red hartebeest, bontebok, eland, gemsbok, bush pig and Burchell’s zebra.

This eco-friendly approach has born fruit, with Villiera being accepted as suppliers to Marks & Spencer in the UK and Woolworths in South Africa.

New Project: Solar Power

The focus for 2010 has been green energy. Seven buildings have already had solar domes installed and operate 80% of the time on natural sunlight.

Due to the environmentally responsible approach, the Griers are constantly searching for ways to support this philosophy.

“Power is becoming excessively expensive and green energy is becoming increasingly attractive, both financially and philosophically,” said spokesperson Cathy Grier Brewer.

“We investigated the options and decided to take the plunge by installing solar power to supply all Villiera’s daytime requirements outside of harvest time.”

The process involves approximately 950 sq m of solar panels mounted on cellar roofs capable of generating 132 kw of power.

‘We will continue to rely on Eskom for night time power and additional power requirements during the harvest,” said Grier Brewer. “This is the biggest roof-mounted solar project in South Africa."

The switch-on date is set for 15 September 2010.

Villiera is just one of the entrants in the drinks business Green Awards, which take place in London early next year. For more information contact Zoltan Hojsza at zoltan@thedrinksbusiness.com or call +44 (0)207 803 2424.

For more information on Villiera, visit www.villiera.com

db, 08.09.2010