Sustainability in action

At Durbanville Hills sustainability is not just a buzzword. It’s consciously part of the day-to-day for the entire team – from grape growers to the cellar, the winemaking team, and the tasting room.

The cellar has recently upgraded its water treatment plant, one of the first implemented in the Cape Winelands, treating and filtering effluent to a quality standard to irrigate the 4ha olive grove planted at the back of the cellar to assist in converting carbon dioxide into oxygen.

In addition, they have mounted roof solar panels supplying 375 Kilowatts linked directly into the electrical system of the cellar, reducing the load on the national grid in an environmentally sustainable way.

The cellar has since its inception in 1999 strived to follow the best possible environmentally friendly practices. All aspects that have a potential impact on the environment were considered and addressed with special attention given to wastewater management, systems and methods in the vineyards to not only achieve sustainable yields of good quality but to minimise disruption to the environment.

They subscribe to the Integrated Production of Wine (IPW), a set of environmentally friendly grape growing practices that covers not only viticultural practices but also harvesting, transportation of grapes, winemaking processes, and waste management.

All Durbanville Hills wines carry the Integrity and Sustainability Seal which certifies that the vintage, varietal and origin is true, that the wine is produced sustainably, bottled in South Africa, and that the wine can be traced back from the bottle to the vine.

Their ISO 14001 accreditation is testament to the cellar establishing an environmental policy, determining environmental impacts of products and services, planning environmental objectives and programmes to measure these, and conducting corrective action and management reviews.

Visit the beautiful winery only 20 minutes from Cape Town City Centre with breath-taking views of Table Mountain and Table Bay for a wine tasting, breakfast, lunch or dinner, or simply to end the day with a beautiful sunset and a glass of award-winning wine.