Sustainable Farming and Winemaking.
Farming with Respect, Crafting with Purpose
At Karibib, we take a sustainable approach to everything we do. It reflects our respect for nature and our commitment to improving soil health while crafting the quality wines that define Karibib Wine Estate.
IN THE VINEYARDS
- We are Glyphosfate free from 2021. Glyphosate is a known carcinogenic widely used in the farming industry to control weeds. Moving away from this harmful herbicide is costly and difficult, but we will never go back. We have seen a clear improvement in our soil health since we’ve stopped using Glyphosate.
- We promote the Guinnyfowl population through perches and water holes around the farm. The Guinnies eat all kinds of harmful bugs in the vineyard and they are in essence how we control insects in an organic way.
- We put out predatory insects that prey on mites and plant lice in the vineyards. This eliminates the need to use very harmful and poisonous chemicals to control plant lice in the vineyards.
- We use enriched organic fertilisers and compost in the vineyards. This greatly improves the microbial life and thus the health of the soils.
- We sow 100% of the farm with diverse covercrop in the winter to prevent soil errotion and increase the carbon in the soils in a natural way. This also boosts the soil microbial life and thus soil health.
IN THE WINERY
- We have natural cooling towers in the southern facing winery wall. We let water cascade through the towers and the wind cools down the winery.
- The winery is very hands- on and we try to stay away from mechanising the winemaking.
- We believe that wine gets made in the vineyards and that we only facilitate the natural winemaking processes in the winery. Here, minimalistic intervention is the mantra.
- We facilitate wild ferments on all our wines.
- We don't use enzymes in our wines.
- We use eco friendly cleaning/sterilising chemicals as much as possible in the winery
- Bottles are the biggest carbon footprint in a bottle of wine. We source a bottle that in in good balance between quality and has a relatively low carbon footprint. We are constantly looking for a better bottle (lighter weight) and made with as much recycled material and renewable energy.
- The labels we use are uncoated, meaning they degrade faster and do not have plastic linings.
