Sustainabilty Charter
At Radford Dale we care deeply about the wellbeing of our people and community, and the environmental footprint we leave.
Our mission is rooted in a deep commitment to sharing our passion for wine thoughtfully and responsibly. We believe in enriching our terroir, safeguarding our planet's future, supporting thriving communities, nurturing a dedicated workforce, and upholding ethical governance practices. The spirit of custodianship guides all our endeavors; we are steadfast in our identity and dedicated to sustainable, long-term thinking. Our approach values restraint, revealing rewards over time as we care for our land, craft, and the future opportunities for our people, brands, and businesses. We prioritize generational sustainability, integrating it into every decision and action.
For us, sustainability isn't just a narrative but an inherent part of who we are — a commitment to bringing together people, planet, and profit for enduring success and shared prosperity.
seals of approval
“As a society and an industry, we’ve been pretty complacent about the environment – and much of what is out there is greenwashing and chest beating. Rather, we need to be authentic. We have a responsibility to ourselves and to our community. We don’t believe we are perfect and to become fully sustainable will take time, years, but we must make a real effort to embrace change, commit to the process and do it."
alex dale
Founder
our four pillars of sustainability
1. Viticulture
Preparing our land for future generations
We strive to leave a legacy enhanced by natural resources for future generations. Our stewardship ensures that we pass on our lands in better condition than we received them, preserving and enriching our environment while producing wines of outstanding quality.
This includes organically-certified, regenerative viticulture for all the vineyards we own and organically-certified winemaking for all wines made from Radford Dale Organic in Elgin (as certified by EcoCert). In the long term we aim to extend that certification to the Stellenbosch winery too.
2. Eco practices
Minimizing consumption of what we cannot replenish.
We recognise the critical importance of the fundamental yet finite resources essential to life. Our pledge is to protect these resources by preserving what we have, regenerating where possible, and minimizing consumption of non-renewable resources.
We are gradually introducing lightweight bottles (410g and below) across ALL our ranges to comply with the Sustainable Wine Roundtable Bottle Weight Accord, as well as recyclable packaging materials throughout. We are well established members of the IPW (Integrated Production of Wine - the South African environmental sustainability scheme), and possess the 'Integrity & Sustainability' seal on our wines, accredited by the Wine Certification Authority. Finally we installed Solar energy at the Radford Dale Organic cellar mid 2024, to take us 100% off the Eskom grid.
3. Our people
Creating a fair and enriching culture for our workforce
We aim to create leaders at all levels who are passionate about and knowledgeable in the business of wine. This approach not only fosters expertise but also ensures that the team is motivated to excel and share their enthusiasm with others.
Treating our employees ethically is crucially important and we've been certified members of WIETA (the Wine Industry Ethical Trading Association) since 2010, a code which promotes fair business practice, no unfair discrimination and the right to a healthy and safe working environment.
4. our peoples' people
Creating opportunties for our employees' dependents.
Apartheid may have ended three decades ago, but there remains much social inequality, and a deeply sub-standard public educational system in South Africa.
That’s why Radford Dale set up the Land of Hope Educational Trust. Established in 2007 the direct and sole beneficiaries of this Trust are the previously disadvantaged individual employees of Radford Dale and their children and dependents.
Read more, and see various certifications, over at our page dedicated to all things 'Ethics and Environment':
