MAJOR AWARDS

 John Platter Wine Man of the year (Jeff Grier 1995)
 Diners Club Wine Maker of the year 1997 (Sauvignon Blanc Category)
 Winner of Wine Magazine Chenin Blanc Challenge (1999)
 Winner of Paarl Vintners Challenge - 1999 (Merlot/Pinotage - Cape Blend category)
 18 Veritas Double Golds over past 12 years
 5 SAA trophies for best SA Cap Classique and one for best SA White wine (Blanc Fume). Most recently in December 2007 for Tradition Brut.
 2007 Wine-of-the-month club winemaker of the year for the third time (Jeff Grier & Anton Smal)
 Winner of the ‘Best Cap Classique' in the 2002 Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show and again in 2007 (runner up as well). Top scoring Cap Classique in 2008.
 Winner of the Calyon Trophy for South Africa's best red ‘Bordeaux Blend' with 2001 Monro (Merlot/ Cab blend) (the 2002 Monro was runner up in the same competition).
 Winner of the ‘Classic Wine' Cap Classique Trophy in 2006 & 2007.
 2008 - Top SA Cap Classique at Swiss Air awards and GOLD for MONRO BRUT 2001
 Villiera's CWG ‘Shooting Star' Cap Classique fetched a record R450 a bottle at the 2009 CWG Auction.
 THREE 5 star awards for Villiera Cap Classique in the John Platter Wine Guide (only a handful awarded each year). The latest being for Monro Brut 2005 in the 2011 Guide.
 2010 John Platter ‘Superquaffer of the year' for Villiera Chenin Blanc 2009
 IWC Trophy for Brut Natural 2007 in 2010
 SAA RED WINE Trophy for Monro 2005 (top scoring red to be served in Premium Class for 2011)
 Various Gold & Silver Medals at the International Wine Challenge (IWC), International Wine and Spirit Competition, Decanter Wine Awards, Mondial (Brussels), Basel Wine Fair, Winpac (Hong Kong), MUNDUSvini and Expovena 

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS

Viticulturist Simon Grier has always been a keen supporter of maintaining environmentally friendly vineyard management practices. The farm has not sprayed insecticides for the past ten years and a flock of 1000 Peking ducks are responsible for some natural pest control. There is a strong focus on water conservation, recycling and a greening project (currently in progress), which entails the planting of 1000's of indigenous trees on the farm. This philosophy has led to a vibrant eco-system on the farm, including huge flocks of guinea fowl and pheasant as well as steenbok, Cape foxes, grey mongooses, porcupines and the threatened blue crane.
In 2010 Villiera Wines installed solar power to supply all Villiera's daytime requirements outside of harvest time. This involves approximately 950 m2 of solar panels mounted on cellar roofs capable of generating 132 KW of power. This is currently the biggest roof mounted Solar Project in South Africa.
This eco-friendly approach has born fruit with Villiera being accepted as suppliers to Marks & Spencer in the UK and Woolworths in South Africa.
In 2009 the 175 Ha Villiera Wildlife Sanctuary was opened.
BWI member (Biodiversity + Wine Initiative - www.bwi.co.za).
IPW accreditation (Integrated Production of Wine (an environmental sustainability scheme) - www.ipw.co.za). From 2010 all Villiera Wines will carry the new Sustainability Seal issued by SAWIS (The SA Wine and Spirit Board)
Villiera was awarded the M&S Overseas Plan A in Action award in 2010. It's all about "Doing the right thing".
http://www.marksandspencer.com/MSTV/b/311612031?intid=emtv_0_44009214001_77491188001

M'HUDI WINES

M'Hudi Wines is a mentorship programme between the Grier family and the Rangaka family from a neighbouring vineyard. M'Hudi Wines is 100% owned by the Rangaka's with Villiera assisting with production and marketing of the wines. The result has been the release of a highly successful range of M'Hudi wines, which are sold in South Africa and grace the shelves of Marks & Spencer in the United Kingdom.

UPLIFTMENT PROJECTS

• Zenzile Gardening Project - this vegetable garden project is located on Villiera farm and provides an income generating opportunity for previously unemployed people from a nearby township.
• Daycare centre - two trained pre-primary teachers are in charge of an early childhood development programme on the farm taking care of 16 children of Villiera farm workers (expert supervision and training is provided by the Pebbles Project).
• After-school club - a fully equipped after-school club provides a safe environment where children can complete their homework assignments under supervision while their parents are still at work (again supervision and training is provided by the Pebbles Project and the Anna Foundation).
• Anna Foundation - spend 2 afternoons a week with the afterschool kids teaching reading, writing and sport.
• Both the Pebbles Project and The Anna Foundation spend a lot of time teaching the kids environmental awareness and taking them on day trips.

Accreditation and membership

1. Overstrand Conservation Foundation
2. Kleinrivier Conservancy
3. BWI membership (Biodiversity in Wine Initiative)
4. Currently aiming for BWI Champion Status
5. Busy being accredited for HACCP.
6. First wine farm to be WIETA accredited for cellar and vineyard (Wine Industry Ethical Trade Association). Soon to change to AETI (Agricultural Ethical Trade Initiative).
7. We have been audited by Woolworths and Marks & Spencer for Ethical behaviour, Food safety and Health & Safety.
(recipient in 2010 of the M&S Overseas Plan A in Action Award)
8. Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) accredited.

WIETA ACCREDITATION

In 2006, Villiera Wines became a fully accredited member of the Wine Industry Ethical Trade Association, which was established in November 2002. The association was instrumental in bringing together stake holders in the Western Cape wine and broader agricultural industries to promote ethical trade in the agricultural sector. WIETA's mission is to improve the working conditions of employees within the agricultural industry by adhering to ethical employment practices. The WIETA Code of Conduct prohibits the use of child labour, excessive working hours and unfair discrimination, while ensuring a healthy and safe working environment and the right to a living wage.

Cellar

1. All buildings are insulated and have white roofs to reflect heat.
2. Most of the walls are 330mm thick for further insulation.
3. All water use is monitored and recorded. Waste is settled and sent through a marsh area to purify the water before it enters an irrigation dam. Water samples are taken regularly to check on water quality. Water can then be put through a drip irrigation system back into the vineyards.
4. When hot-water cylinders are replaced, they are changed to solar water heaters.
5. Seven buildings have had Solar Domes installed and operate 80% of the time on natural sunlight.
6. Machinery is only used when necessary, for example; the cool-room's cooling is switched off when natural temperatures allow.
7. Time certain power use to when we have ample solar power.

Solar Power

One of our new projects in 2010 was green energy. Due to our environmentally responsible approach, we are constantly searching for ways to support this philosophy, which should ideally also make business sense.
Power is becoming excessively expensive and green energy is becoming increasingly attractive, both financially and philosophically. We investigated the options and decided to take the plunge by installing solar power to supply all Villiera's daytime requirements outside of harvest time. This involves approximately 950 m2 of solar panels mounted on cellar roofs capable of generating 132 KW of power. We will continue to rely on Eskom for night time power and additional power requirements during the harvest. This is currently the biggest roof mounted Solar Project in South Africa.
The switch on date was the 29th September 2010.

Recycling

1. Paper, cardboard, plastic and metal collected by previously unemployed people once a week and sold for their own account.
2. Glass to Consol for re-melting or a bottle recycler that washes and re-sells the bottles.
3. All sediment from wine tanks and tartrates sold to Brenn-o-Kem where it is turned into products for the wine industry and cattle feed.
4. Grape skins are composted and re-used in the vineyard.

Vineyard

Our property consists of 400 ha in the Stellenbosch area. 200 ha of which are planted to vines, the remaining 200 ha are made up of buildings, fallow land, gardens, dams and a wildlife sanctuary.
(We also have 310 ha in the Stanford area, which we have spent 14 years clearing of alien vegetation. Only a small area of gum trees remain, the rest is coastal fynbos with 2 km of riverfront on the Klein River with a Melkhout and olive forest. It is a private Nature Reserve. There is abundant small game on the property and we have added Bontebok, Red Hartebeest and Gemsbok. The birdlife is also amazing.)

Back to Villiera: In conjunction with two neighbours (The Cape Garden Centre and Klawervlei estate) we have set aside 220ha of land as a wildlife sanctuary. The area also includes 12 dams plus marsh areas that attract a huge diversity of birdlife. Indigenous olive trees have been grown in old milk containers, plastic water bottles etc. by our staff and then bought from them when a year old for R5 each and planted out.
In the past 2 years we have planted 38000 indigenous trees with another 30000 planned for 2011. A large number of these trees are specboom which are one of the most efficient trees for binding carbon.

Most of the vineyard is irrigated with drip irrigation. Approximately 40 ha is dry land as irrigation is not necessary on those soils. Water which comes from the Theewaterskloof dam is blended with up to 400mil lts of drainage water. This is the excess that flows from the vineyard drainage in winter and is stored in 7 dams for summer. Vineyard moisture is monitored by neutron probes and we only irrigate when necessary and only an amount which can be used by the vines (no wastage).

All vineyards are planted with rye or oats in winter to prevent erosion and use excess moisture. In spring they are rolled flat, to provide a mulch in summer to keep the vineyards cooler and prevent moisture loss. Humus content of the soils is also increased in this way.

For 10 years Villiera has only sprayed minimally for weed control; fungicides have been used but no spraying of insecticides. In 2007 we administered nematacide through the drip system on some problem vines and only after exhaustive tests and strict control.
We have reduced our vineyard area from 300 ha to 200 ha and have stabilised the crop at around 1800 tons. We aim to continue to improve the condition of these vines pushing up the average age and yield while further uprooting vineyard not producing quality grapes. In this way, increasing the area of fallow land left to nature.

We are very aware of the vineyard environment with approximately 50 Steenbuck, Cape Fox, Bat-Eared Fox, Grey Mongoose, Water Mongoose, Porcupine, Guinea Fowl, Pheasant, Blue Crane, Caracal etc surviving in the vineyards. We have 35 owl boxes in the vineyards, some containing barn owls, many with crows, Egyptian geese and swarms of bees. These are all naturally occurring. In addition we have introduced mammals in the Wildlife Sanctuary: Springbuck, Red Hartebeest, Bontebok, Eland, Gemsbok, Bush Pig and Burchell's Zebra, Common Duiker and Grysbok. In addition we have permits for Grey Rhebuck, Giraffe, Black Wildebeest and Kudu.

No staff may kill any animal on the farm. Many years back we bought 500 mole snakes from a snake farmer in Fishhoek to eradicate moles and mice on the farm (price 10 cents per foot).
Snails and insect pests are normally controlled by up to 1000 Peking ducks. Only in exceptional circumstances do we use snail bait.

Most of the vineyards are sprayed by pumps that straddle the vines greatly reducing the fuel required per ha. Most of the weeds are controlled by motorbike, which also use less fuel. All chemical containers are sent for recycling into plastic wood. Most of the waste is separated for recycling and the rest taken to the waste transfer station in Klapmuts.
Nothing is dumped or burnt on the farm.
Kitchen waste is fed to the Bush Pigs.
All engine oil, paraffin and other fuel from our workshop is recycled by oilcol. All garden waste is added to the mulch in the vineyards.

There is a long way to go in what we can do to protect the environment, but we are committed to following this path. 

- BBBEE (Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment): Villiera is a certified ‘Value Adding Enterprise'. This is an ongoing process.
- We have been audited by Woolworths and Marks & Spencer for Ethical behaviour, Food safety and Health & Safety.