By Rose Murray Brown MW   Published in The Scotsman 21 Feb 2026

 

When I visited Rustenberg wine estate near Stellenbosch in South Africa last month, my arrival had been preceded by 100 Indian runner ducklings which were just settling into their new home padding around on this historic old Cape farm.

 

“We recently applied for a grant to introduce the ducks”, explained Murray Barlow, owner of Rustenberg farm (pictured below).  “They will be very useful for eating the many snails and mealybugs which infest our vineyards, will help to break the pest cycle, reduce the need for synthetic sprays or snail pellets – and duck manure will improve our vineyard soil health”.

Rustenberg’s ‘duck’ project is part of a Climate and Nature Programme now in its second year, a carbon in-setting initiative by the UK-based wine membership co-operative, The Wine Society, which annually puts £65,000 towards environmental projects which help build resilience to climate change from the soil up in their producers’ vineyards, by boosting biodiversity and sequestering additional carbon from the atmosphere.

 

To date four South African wine estates have benefited: Rustenberg, Simonsig and Reyneke in Stellenbosch, and Iona in Elgin – alongside 20 other wine producers in New Zealand, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Greece, Australia and Portugal.

 

Up in the Elgin Highlands of the Western Cape, I visited the Gunn family at their beautiful remote Iona winery (pictured below) who had won this grant the previous year.  “We were so delighted to win”, says Rozy Gunn (pictured below), a keen advocate of introducing biodiversity into vineyards.  “We are now planting 1,200m of hedgerows around our vineyards to provide a protective screen against chemical spray drift from neighbouring farms – and recreate habitats and food for wildlife and insects”, she explained.  Rozy and her husband Andrew are planting Kei Apple, Starry Wild Jasmine, Anisodontea and Ilex Mitis.

At Simonsig farm in Stellenbosch, third-generation owner Michael Malan and his viticulturalist Nicole Pelzer have been awarded this grant to establish a landscape scale biodiversity restoration project to ‘bring back the fynbos’, the Cape’s indigenous shrubland vegetation.  They are developing 2.5 hectare blocks, formerly planted with vines, removing invasive species and reintroducing indigenous fynbos to provide biodiversity corridors for birds and insects, to ensure their vineyard is buzzing with life.

 

Down-under, similar projects include Felton Road winery’s three-hectare rewilding and biochar project in New Zealand’s Central Otago and Neudorf winery’s no-till seed drill and crimp roller investment in New Zealand’s Nelson region (pictured below).  In Australia, Vanguardist in South Australia will be planting Lilly Pillies (Acmena Smithii) along vineyard margins to create a shelterbelt – whilst artisan producer South by South West winery in Margaret River, Australia will introduce a mobile chicken trailer to their vineyards, so that chickens can help gobble up weevils amongst vines and reduce their need to spray.

 

In Europe, Vadio (pictured below) in Portugal’s Bairrada region was one of the recipients of this grant programme to plant 50 native trees, 30 olive trees and 100 native shrubs – and Geyerhof in Austria’s Kremstal region is being helped to purchase their first ‘side discharge mower’ to help create a layer of mulch under the vines to stop weeds and reduce the need to spray.

The only Eastern European recipient of the Climate & Nature award so far is Villa Melnik in southern Bulgaria.  They plan to create two composting fields made from grape marc, pomace and pruning cuttings to aid their sandy soils low in organic matter – all thanks to this Climate and Nature Programme.

 

 

Try the wines benefitting from this initiative:

 

 

Sparkling

 

South Africa: THE SOCIETY’S EXHIBITION CAP CLASSIQUE 2023 Simonsig

£12.95

Light yeast & brioche notes, crisp, clean with zesty lemon fruits – from the makers of the first bottle fermented Cape fizz Kaapse Vonkel.

 

 

Whites

 

South Africa: CHARDONNAY 2024 Rustenberg  ***STAR BUY***

£13.50

Best value Stellenbosch Chardonnay we tasted on our recent trip – bright rich citric fruits, creamy leesy palate, lightly toasty with good acidity.

 

 

South Africa: SAUVIGNON BLANC 2025 Iona

£13.95

From high altitude vineyards, light green fruits and fresh zippy acidity enhanced with a touch of oaked Semillon.

 

 

New Zealand: TIRITIKI CHARDONNAY 2023 Neudorf

£18.50

Rich tropical fruit, light oaking, creamy textured – a pure precise Kiwi Chardonnay from Nelson region.

 

 

Reds

 

Bulgaria: MELNIK ‘55’ 2022 Villa Melnik

£11.95

From a new variety, a cross between Melnik and Valdeguie, grown in southwest Bulgaria; rich blackcurrant, spice and obvious tannins.

 

 

Portugal: TINTO 2021 Vadio ***STAR BUY***

£16.50

Beautifully floral nose, elegant redcurrant fruits with vibrant juicy acidity – a delightful summery wine made from the tricky Baga grape in coastal Bairrada region.

 

 

All above available from The Wine Society www.thewinesociety.com

 

 

Join Rose’s Escorted Wine Tour to England’s Vineyards 16-20 June 2026 www.rosemurraybrown.com