Snips and Snippets
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December 2023 - we're going off-grid!
Anyone who follows developments in South Africa knows about the problems of Eskom, our state-owned electricity supplier. Eskom is plagued by corruption and mismanagement, produces with a totally outdated infrastructure and is over-indebted to the tune of 400 billion Rand. After the problems started in 2008, things have gotten worse in recent years, with several daily electrical outages - here euphemistically called "load-shedding" - of 2 to 4 to 6 hours each, which makes life very difficult. So we started early on, first with a diesel-generator, then in 2012 with some solar panels and a battery as an emergency back-up. But now we have taken the plunge, greatly expanded our solar system and kissed Eskom good-by. To top it all off, we also switched to an electric car and are now sailing into the future with 99% green energy - by the way, as far as we know, as the only wine farm in South Africa. What a great start into 2024!
Our story told from another perspective
5 October 2021: 5 October 2021:
"The Merlot specialist with donkeys and drones" writes Chris Boiling in the on-line
wine magazine CANOPY of the IWC.
Read on here...
2020 is an anniversary year!
20 years ago, we bottled our first Merlot. Admittedly, it was not a
masterpiece, but it was the beginning of our new career. A lot has
happened since, and there are many good memories. A musician friend and
regular visitor even composed a little ballad about it. We have
completed it with images and created a
jubilee music video.
Just click on the link above to watch it.
(Music: Thorsten Eden
www.diepullies.de)
Rain water harvesting at Bein Wine
June
2018: Water is increasingly scarce in the Cape. So we decided to set up
a rainwater harvesting system. We are confident that we can cover the
entire demand in house and cellar, since we have relatively large roof
areas, and even that little bit of rain of a dry year should be enough
for us. The water is collected in large tanks and treated through a
special filter system to drinking water quality, before it is fed into
the home network - and the great thing about it: our water tastes better
than city water, and is even without chlorine or other additives, ideal
for a wine cellar!
Satellite technology for Bein Wine
(2013) The
currently reigning El Nino brings about stressful drought periods in the Cape.
Fortunately, we have good scientific tools to assess the water needs of
our vineyard. We already long relied on soil moisture probes as well as
on the evaluation of current weather data. What is new is
satellite-based multispectral analysis of the water status of our vines. This allows
us a good estimate of our vine's effective
water use. Moreover, it gives us additional information regarding growth and even nitrogen status of our
plants. This service is
available thanks to an initiative of the Western Cape
Department of Agricultural, which aims at promoting water saving in
agriculture. For more information, have a look at
www.fruitlook.co.za
.
Bein Wine goes solar!
As you know, we are full-heartedly committed to sustainable production. So it's only natural that we tap into solar energy. Since 2012, we have our own solar plant to produce electricity, particularly efficient for the essential cooling of the maturation cellar during the sunny-hot summer days.
The Rock Kestrels love it, too!
After a pair of rock kestrels showed interest in our owl box at the
winery, we swiftly installed a second one just beside - and they
gladly accepted it! So it happened that we have now owls and kestrels happily living
together under one single roof, regularly raising 3-4 chicks each every
year. Of course, there is a
video clip of the kestrels, too.
Bein Merlot amongst the top 100 wines of South Africa
March 2011: It was a great surprise to be selected amongst the top 100 wines of South Africa by the exclusive panel of wine journalists of the South African online magazine GRAPE (not to be confused with the commercial top-100-SA-wine-competition). GRAPE is actually the only independent SA wine publication and for more than 10 years a great source of wine information.
...and further good marks for the Bein Merlot
20.Nov.2010: Our Merlots were well received by the judges for PLATTER'S
2011 edition, South Africa's most influential wine guide: 4 1/2
stars each for the Bein Merlot 2008 and 2009 as well as for the
Merlot Reserve 2008,
4 Stars for the Little Merlot 2009, and 3 Stars for our Pink Merlot 2010,
particularly recommended as best value rosé!
14.Nov. 2010: Silver medal for Bein Merlot 2008 at the
prestigious MONDIAL DU
MERLOT 2010 in Lugano (Switzerland), an international wine competiton
exclusively for Merlots from all over the world.
16.Oct.2010: EMOZIONI DAL MONDO:MERLOT E CABERNET INSIEME,
an international wine competiton in Brescia (Italy) specialised on
Merlot/Cabernet wines, has rewarded our Little Merlot 2009
with a gold medal and the Press Prize for the best South African wine
of the show.
Our barn owls on YouTube
There are currently barn owls and rock kestrels competing for our nest box at the winery as breeding place, so we simply put up a second box - now with a camcorder! Check out the sample below with the owls. More of it here on beinwine's youtube channel!
Bein Wine in Swiss Cash-TV
11.4.2010: In the context of the Soccer World Cup, a series of South African reports have been screened on European TV, amongst others this little review about Bein Wine (in German).
DIAM helped us saying good-bye to corky wines....
May 2007 saw us for the first time using the brand-new DIAM-cork for all our bottles, and we'll stick to it - perhaps a small step for humanity, but a big step for us! This absolutely innovative stopper is ...(read more about DIAM)
The South African Wine Industry celebrates 350 years of winemaking
2009: Although South Africa is counted amongst the New World’s wine producers, the first Cape grapes were already pressed 350 years ago, in 1659 under Jan van Riebeeck.... read more about our interesting wine history
Precision Viticulture in Bein's Vinyard, a new concept of terroir
Ever heard about Precision Agriculture? Read more about this
topic on our
vineyard page, or download our info-poster
"Precision Viticulture in Bein's
Vineyard" (PDF/256 KB)
