Durvillea Wines

 There are several strands to the Durvillea story. So far you have met some of the people involved, the women of our family. From me you have heard a little about our life at Astrolabe and it is from here that the green strand evolves. Another aspect is that we are real people with a real story to tell. Durvillea is not brand that will disappear as the sauvalanche of 08 ebbs away.

It isn’t easy being  green of any shade. So what shade is Durvillea? Well I’m not sure. I suppose it depends how you measure it. Claiming to be environmentally friendly is a dangerous game. How do you measure it? Do you need to pay up to be certified as carbon neutral , how do measure that carbon footprint? So what words do you use to describe a way of living.

For me this is part of my everyday life. So this is what do we do.

Jane's bike at Astrolabe Farm beside her Olive Oil and recycling baskets. How green is that?!

I recycle.I take my own bags shoping. I grow vegetables and keep chickens, produce our own wine and olive oil. I buy freerange pork and chicken. I ride my bike to work when I can. I always hang my washing outside or on the verandah. I don’t spray the roses or the olives. We mulch all the pruning’s from the property. We drive small cars. We have extensive gardens and trees. We are planting an area of the vineyard as a firewood coppice. The idea is that the carbon absorbed from the atmosphere as the tree grows balances the carbon released during combustion.

Alder trees for coppicing firewood

Sounds good, maybe apple green.

But…..

I use roundup to control weeds, I buy coffee from overseas, I fly overseas to sell wine and sometimes just for pleasure, the mulcher  runs off a diesel tractor, I still buy commercial cleaning products.  Okay pale apple green.

So that is how we live but what about the wine. Well, we have a vineyard and we are part of the sustainable vineyard programme as are all the vineyards we source fruit from. They are all certified or working towards it. There is one who isn’t, they are heading the biodynamic way. That makes them bright green and rapidly getting darker.

So when we began Durvillea I wanted to think about how we could make the product itself more environmentally sensitive, aware, lessen the footprint,be more sustainable. The easiest way I thought was to use a lighter weight bottle. Now traditionally the weight of the bottle is equated with quality of the wine. I don’t get it. I don’t really care how big the punt is. However the problem with using a light weight bottle means they are not as strong and when stacked in pallets this can be a problem. In our first run we had a few problems. However aside from the energy used to produce glass it means we  can put more bottles in a container  which means less carbon footprint. Hooray- a measurable thing.

Durvillea Cartons

Then we decided to use cardboard cartons without overgloss and a limited amount of inks. However when they get wet they get soggy. Then we used a label made from recycled materials but when the wine was put in an icebucket the labels scuffed. We have had to revert to a normal label until we can source a more suitable recycled paper. We have continued with the carton and a light weight bottle. We are trying. It’s not easy being green.

So what colour green am I? I haven’t done the sums, I am sensitive, aware, and my footprint is pretty average. I think sustainable is the word I would use. I think that makes me seaweed green.

PS. Meg is going to teach me to make cleaning products  when she comes home next.

Jane's hedge

PPS. I’ve been trimming the hedges at Astrolabe Farm, and this is what I’m aiming for…..

Hedge friends (Edendale, Southland)