Johan Reyneke, the owner of Reyneke Wines, had great aspirations when he started looking after a few rows of a vineyard on his family’s small farm near Stellenbosch in the late 1990s. After studying philosophy, he had come to believe that humans are merely part of the natural order, rather than being superior to it, and this inspired him to find ways to work with nature, instead of against it, in his farming.
Since then, his area under production has grown to 125ha, which includes rented land. More impressively, he has managed to build up his soils’ humus levels from a mere 0,9% to 4,3%, and increase soil pH levels without adding lime. Improved soil health has also influenced the quality of the wine produced on the farm, resulting in…