Angoves wine family extend its progressive innovation from 1886 in South Australia, going 100% organic in 2020
Indian Runner ducks keep snails at bay and help fertilise the vines at Angoves organic operations.
Image by Mark Zed, courtesy Angove Family Winemakers
Angove Family Winemakers, at South Australia’s McLaren Vale and Renmark, made the switch to totally organic in 2020.
The switch was guided by managinig director John Angove, the fourth-generation descendant of William Angove, the progressive polymath doctor who started the family winery business in 1886. Third-generation Tom, John’s father, had continued to spirit of innovation by perfecting the wine cask.
The change to 100% organic took more than 15 years and was a hard-won claim, with a rigorous third-party certification required every year. Angove’s labelling made it clear the wine was organic as a point of difference – and a 35% sale growth was the result.
Joint managing director Victoria Angove said there were many factors to the organic success, including the Indian Runner ducks that kept the vineyard snail population under control while also providing fertiliser. Bats patrolled for insects at night. In the family’s Warboys vineyard, bat nesting boxes were installed to encourage the bats to breed. They operated as effective insect eaters and, if the experiment proved successful, the Angoves hoped to inspire other vineyards to reduce their use of pesticides.
Special mowers were used to keep the weeds under control, drip irrigation was used and solar power installed. While vines didn’t need bees to pollinate, Angoves had beehives onsite to help provide a holistic ecosystem. It also planted a corridor of native vegetation at McLaren Vale with the state environment department.
The company introduced the Naturalis brand, with whites, a rosé, a sparkling and red wines in the sub-$20 price range to overcome organic wines being perceived as a much more expensive.
Victoria Angove believed producing organic wine was about "treating the vineyard as an ecosystem and making sure that ecosystem works at its optimal level. That’s done by really looking at it as a whole,”