At the recent Nedbank Green Wine awards, Earthbound received two awards for its Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 - Organically Grown Overall Winner and Organically Grown Best Red Wine.

The Nedbank Green Wine Awards consists of two categories, one for organic entries and another for the wines that follow the Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) guidelines. 

Earthbound is an organic and Fairtrade-certified wine, made from grapes supplied by Papkuilsfontein Vineyards in Darling on the West Coast. The Fairtrade certification means that for every ton of grapes harvested for this wine, a premium of R600 is paid towards projects intended to improve the quality of life of farm workers and their families. A committee representing the workers decides on how premiums will be spent. To date, funds have been directed towards computer facilities, education and training. A community hall has been completed and funds were used to furnish it and buy other necessary equipment. 

The vines are certified organic by the Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS), a leading international inspection, verification, testing and certification company. It is recognised as a global benchmark for quality and integrity assurance in the production of organic foodstuffs. All elements in the production programme are fully monitored on an annual basis and traceable at all points.

“I am thrilled to accept these awards on behalf of the entire Earthbound team,” said winemaker Heinrich Kulsen. “I am proud, as it is my first award as the winemaker of Earthbound. We owe a huge deal of gratitude to all our farm workers who put in so much effort to produce grapes and wines of outstanding quality.”

The judges of this year’s awards included journalist, Fiona McDonald; chairwoman of the Institute of Cape Wine Masters and international wine judge, Dr Winnie Bowman; director of Singita Premier Wine, Francois Rautenbach; and KWV scholarship graduate, Nomonde Kubheka.