Jordan Estate has always been self-reliant on water and continues to maintain world-class standards.
With Stellenbosch reaching Level 6 water restrictions, it is widespread news that the Western Cape and the City of Cape Town are currently experiencing one of the worst droughts in history.
With “Day Zero” looming, we recognise how precious and limited water supply is in some parts of the country and while we are doing all we can to preserve this precious resource, are pleased that Jordan Wine Estate is self-sustaining and not reliant on municipal supplies for any services.
At Jordan Wine Estate, we are very fortunate to have natural springs and deep underground water resources, as well as dams for irrigating our vineyards, should this be essential. These sources of water make us entirely independent from municipal supplies, and enable us to supply water to maintain the Jordan Restaurant, Bakery at Jordan, winery and Jordan Luxury Suites, as well as limited irrigation for certain vineyards. However, we have always been, and will always continue to be, extremely water-wise.
Years ago, we had the foresight to implement a number of water-saving devices in our cellar, and subsequently use less than half the water that most cellars generally use.
Our gardens are irrigated with recycled, non-potable wastewater. All run-off is caught and channelled into specially constructed dams.
Guests at the Jordan Luxury Suites are informed upon arrival about the critical water situation in the Western Cape. Discreet signs are placed around the suites as non-intrusive reminders to reduce water usage in general by having shorter showers and not over-using water in the basins. Spa treatments are all done in-room with eco-friendly oils that do not leave stains on towels or garments, resulting in less water use for our in-house laundry.
Bath plugs have been removed from all suites but are available from reception should guests require them. Routine daily changes of linen and towels is also discouraged although fresh linen and towels are available on request.
In addition, waterless hand sanitiser has replaced all soap dispensers on the estate, and our filtered, natural spring water, flowing deeply within our 600 million year old granite formations, is made readily available to guests as drinking water.
In terms of the vineyards, we pro-actively manage our water in conjunction with data received from our own weather station and only irrigate through a drip-irrigation system which has a 90% system effectiveness. We are very fortunate that the rain received during the growing season was perfectly timed. Our weather station at Jordan Estate recorded over 132 mm of rain during the growing season to date and this enabled us to irrigate less than usual.
September 30.4 mm
October 30.0 mm
November 38.8 mm
December 19 mm
January 14 mm
Through innovative water management techniques, we have enough water to irrigate essential vineyards during verasion (colour change) and are looking forward to our 2018 wines that promise concentration and exceptional quality. We will, as usual, continue to encourage the conservation of water and to do all we can to save this very precious resource.
