Area Conserved: 50 ha Wine District: Cape Point Owner / Contact Person: Duncan Savage Phone: (021) 789 0900 Website: www.capepointvineyards.co.za

Cape Point Vineyards consists of farms at Noordhoek and Scarborough on the Cape Peninsula, with magnificent views of the Atlantic Ocean. The vineyards are located between two ocean currents, the cool Atlantic on the west, and the warm Indian current on the east. The establishment of Cape Point Vineyards prompted the new district of “Cape Point” under the Wine of Origin scheme in 1998. Owner Sybrand van der Spuy has always had conservation high on his list of priorities, when it comes to wine farming. By using the ‘inter row principle’, where natural vegetation is kept in between vineyards as a natural cover crop, they are breaking away from the concept of monoculture.

Two streams flow through the property lined with ancient, indigenous riverine trees. There is also a beautiful indigenous forest nestled in a mountain kloof, which is highly conservation worthy considering many of these Afromontane forest patches in the Cape Peninsula mountains have disappeared. As part of Cape Point’s ongoing invader plant-clearing plan, 20 ha have already been cleared in 2005 (mostly the ravine and gully areas) on both farms. Clearing expenses in this difficult terrain came to R150, 000, spent in 2005 alone. Alien clearing projects for 2006 will concentrate on the mountain slopes above the vineyards. To ensure that cleared areas stay alien-free, a well-experienced alien-clearing specialist has been contracted to continue with follow-ups. The wine maker and farm manager, Duncan Savage, is giving enthusiastic support to the alien clearing and fynbos restoration projects on the farm. This will ensure that Cape Point Vineyards retain a strong sense of land custodianship for the land that is under their care.