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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, they will implement the biodiversity guidelines, conserve critical ecosystems and incorporate a biodiversity story into their winery experience.

The bwi aims to:

Prevent further loss of habitat in critical sites.
Increase the total area set aside as natural habitat in contractual protected areas.
Promote changes in farming practices that enhance the suitability of vineyards as habitat for biodiversity, and reduce farming practices that have negative impacts on biodiversity, both in the vineyards and in surrounding natural habitat.
Create marketing opportunities for the wine industry by positioning biodiversity, and the industry's proactive stance on biodiversity, as a unique selling point to differentiate Brand South Africa.
We, at Uitvlucht Winery, are very proud to be a member of this initiative recently.

WHAT IS

Biodiversity refers to all the genes, species, ecosystems and processes that allow life to persist over time. When biodiversity is intact, species and ecosystems are resilient, enabling them to adapt to environmental changes. When biodiversity is lost, nature responds unpredictably, making it difficult for growers to plan production and protect natural resources.

Terroir

Terroir is defined as a complex of natural environmental factors that cannot be easily modified by the producer and include topography, climate, geology and soil. A good terroir is considered to be one that ensures a slow but complete maturation of grapes with certain regularity in quality of the product from vintage to vintage.

Topography

The effect of topography on temperature can be considered to be one of the main factors affecting the quality of grapes. Uitvlucht Winery has a large variety to choose from. The topography is usually hilly to mountainous with excellent air movement to cool down the grapes. Together with the dry climate this ensures healthy ripening in a moderate climate. Increasing altitude tends to result in decreasing temperature. The generally accepted rule goes that temperature decreases 1ºC for every 100 m increase in altitude. The vineyards of Uitvlucht Winery are situated from 400 – 700m above sea level. The KOO region is the highest region and get so cold that it snows in wintertime. Slope affects temperature via sunlight interception. Due to the hilly and sometimes mountainous terrain the viticulturists of Uitvlucht have a variety slopes to choose from. This is carefully considered when it comes to cultivar selection.

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Climate

A variety of mesoclimates can be identified ranging from secluded valleys high up in the mountains to the lower riverbeds in the valleys. This variety of mesoclimates gives us the opportunity to produce excellent wines, ranging from Sauvignon blanc in the higher valleys to Muscadel in the fertile riverbeds. The daily winds in the afternoon ensures good air circulation, prevents high relative humidity and excessively high temperatures from developing in vine canopies. All of this contributes to the optimal environment for physiological ripening of grapes and for the synthesis of colour, flavour and aroma compounds.

Geology

Geology potentially has both direct and indirect effects on wine character and style. The underlying parent material affects the soil, resulting in soil physical and chemical characteristics and variations in topography. Montagu is well known for it ancient rock formations and the erosion of the sandstone formations result in good viticulture soils.

Soil

The main effect of soil type is through its physical properties and through the regulation of the water supply to the grapevine. This must be considered in conjunction with the meso- and seasonal climate. The deep soils in and around Montagu is favourable for root development ensuring a buffering against climatic extremes and contribute to constancy of the product across vintages.

Our vineyards

The vintners at Uitvlucht Winery do their utmost to ensure that suitable cultivars are placed in the right soil under unique micro-climate conditions thus producing excellent grapes to be converted into quality wines. We have a total of 280 ha of vineyards distributed through the different our different terroirs.

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