The story of African Dawn Wines In celebration of conservation, the international wine company African Dawn Wines and Rooiberg Winery have teamed up to launch a range of wines that would generate funds for the conservation of South Africa’s natural environment through joining the BWI, the Biodiversity & Wine Initiative. Besides wines produced according to the rules of the Biodiversity & Wine Initiative, the company African Dawn Wines aspired to add more environmentally friendly aspects to their wines and packaging. The result of this is a delicious range of wines with the BWI logo, FSC certified corks and labels and the aspiration to highlight the importance of biodiversity by being a forerunner in the field of wines produced in harmony with nature. In celebration of conservation, the international wine company African Dawn Wines and Rooiberg Winery have teamed up to launch a range of wines that would generate funds for the conservation of South Africa’s natural environment through joining the BWI, the Biodiversity & Wine Initiative. Besides wines produced according to the rules of the Biodiversity & Wine Initiative, the company African Dawn Wines aspired to add more environmentally friendly aspects to their wines and packaging. The result of this is a delicious range of wines with the BWI logo, FSC certified corks and labels and the aspiration to highlight the importance of biodiversity by being a forerunner in the field of wines produced in harmony with nature. Rooiberg Winery Being totally devoted to conservation Rooiberg Winery became the first cooperative to become a member of the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative (BWI) in South Africa. In practice this means the total area of all farms that supply grapes to Rooiberg winery is 11,000 ha. and that more than 6,000 ha. of natural areas (which is almost 60% of the total area) has been identified and set aside for conservation. 
To find out more about our winery Rooiberg please click on the button 'read more' or visit the website www.rooiberg.co.za
With more than half of Rooiberg's land being set aside for conversation, maintaining functioning natural systems which is an important goal of the BWI, is realised. This means the vineyards of Rooiberg are surrounded with the natural vegetation of that area, 'fynbos', which before efforts from the BWI almost disappeared from that area. One of Rooiberg vineyards surrounded by 'fynbos' is shown on the following picture, showing the 'fynbos' at the bottom and the vineyards at the middle of the picture. 
Other examples of Rooiberg implementing the BWI guidelines are the minimum use of herbicides and pesticides which makes it even possible for weed and (weed) flowers to grow in the vines. Allowing weed to grow between the vines is something which will never be seen in traditional vineyards as everything other than the vines is warded from the vineyards. Another implementation example is the effective management of soil and water use, which means the water to moisturize the vines is not sprayed above the vines, but dripped directly on the soil, to minimize the spoil of water because of evaporation. 
The result of all those BWI measures is that Rooiberg made it happen that 60% of their land has been given back to nature. Rooiberg's vineyards are now surrounded by indigenous vegetation types, for example flourishing 'fynbos'. This resulted in the discovery of an endangered, indigenous fish called the Breede River Redfin on one of the members farms and in a number of rare succulents and other plant species identified on some of the other farms. This shows that when humans give back to nature, nature gives back to humans. READ MORECLOSE |
What is the Biodiversity & Wine Initiative? To understand the importance and meaning of the Biodiversity & Wine Initiative (BWI), the uniqueness of the South-African biodiversity must be first explained. As you can see on the map below, planet earth is divided into six plant kingdoms. The smallest plant kingdom is "cape", also called "cape floral kingdom" which is situated in the Western Cape of South Africa. This Cape Floral Kingdom is very special as it is the smallest yet richest plant kingdom on earth. To illustrate this, Table Mountain, the famous mountain in Cape Town, has 2200 species, which is more than all species in the UK. Also 70% of all species in the kingdom is endemic, which means it occurs nowhere else (while rainforests are only 30% endemic). But at the same time this floral wonderland - home to 90% of South African's wine production - is under increasing pressure due to urban and agricultural expansion.
The BWI is a pioneering partnership between the South African wine industry and the conservation sector. The goals are to minimise the further loss of threatened natural habitat, and to contribute to sustainable wine production, through the adoption of biodiversity guidelines by the South-African wine industry. One of the strategies of the BWI is to identify and enlist interested producers as members or champions of the initiative, who will implement the biodiversity guidelines, conserve critical ecosystems and incorporate a biodiversity story into their winery experience.READ MORECLOSE Dutch coalition of biodiversity Since May 2010 African Dawn Wines has been a member of the Dutch coalition of biodiversity. Being a member means the forgotten crisis of biodiversity is portrayed among individual citizens and practical and easy executable solutions are brought forward for human and nature and to inspire others to do one's bit!
As a member of the coalition African Dawn Wines delivers a concrete contribution to awareness and the creation of support for the threat of biodiversity. A concrete example of how African Dawn Wines achieves this is the creation of the animation (which can be found on the homepage of this website) to educate people about the exact meaning and importance of biodiversity. African Dawn Wines has the ambition to be a sophisticated wine company with wines produced in harmony with nature and to stimulate other wine companies to follow the example of African Dawn Wines! Since May 2010 African Dawn Wines has been a member of the Dutch coalition of biodiversity. Being a member means the forgotten crisis of biodiversity is portrayed among individual citizens and practical and easy executable solutions are brought forward for human and nature and to inspire others to do one's bit!
As a member of the coalition African Dawn Wines delivers a concrete contribution to awareness and the creation of support for the threat of biodiversity. A concrete example of how African Dawn Wines achieves this is the creation of the animation (which can be found on the homepage of this website) to educate people about the exact meaning and importance of biodiversity. African Dawn Wines has the ambition to be a sophisticated wine company with wines produced in harmony with nature and to stimulate other wine companies to follow the example of African Dawn Wines! FSC - Forest Stewardship Council In addition to the support to the BWI, African Dawn Wines also uses environmentally friendly corks. On their request, cork producer Amorim developed corks with the FSC label, meaning the corks have been harvested from organic forests that have been licensed by FSC. But only FSC corks were not enough for African Dawn Wines, the wine labels are also printed on FSC paper, which is a worldwide scoop.
In September 2007 African Dawn Wines received as the first range of wines in the world, the Full Chain of Custody for the use of FSC corks and labels. FSC chain of custody (CoC) tracks FSC certified material through the production process - from the forest to the consumer, including all successive stages of processing, transformation, manufacturing and distribution.
Only FSC CoC certified operations are allowed to label products with the FSC trademarks. The FSC label thus provides the link between responsible production and consumption and thereby enables the consumer to make socially and environmentally responsible purchasing decisions. 
Amorim, the cork producer of African Dawn Wines, is the first packaging company in the world to obtain FSC certification, which recognizes effective contributions to social, economical and environmental advances in forestall areas. But what are the exact advantages of FSC certified corks compared to other type of closings (f.e. natural corks, screw caps)? READ MORECLOSE |