April, 2026

This was ADVICO’s most active season yet, with 32 demos harvested across 10 districts and the team covering more than 4,200 km in the process. The work included 15 clone demos, 9 rootstock demos, and 8 cultivar demos, with a total of 1,145 grape samples processed.

The season started two weeks earlier than usual, kicking off with the Chardonnay clone demo at Graham Beck on 6 January, and concluded in March with the Cabernet Sauvignon demo at Vergelegen. It also marked our first harvest at Creation, and Paul Clüver, an exciting milestone for the team.

We look forward to analysing this past season’s results and gaining further insights from the data collected across all sites.

May 7, 2025

The team recently visited our new Chardonnay clone demonstration in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley at Creation Wines. Fourteen clones were planted in 2022 to evaluate how they perform in this cool-climate site, focusing on both production and wine quality. The visit provided an opportunity to assess early vine growth and site conditions, and the team is excited to begin ongoing monitoring to track how these clones develop over time. This demo will provide valuable insights into the potential of different Chardonnay clones in this unique region.

November 18, 2025

Today we hosted a rootstock field session at Otterkuil, bringing growers and technical teams together to explore three seasons of performance data. The session highlighted how different rootstocks respond under dryland conditions and what this means for vine balance, resilience, and long-term planning. Participants walked through the block, compared trends, and discussed practical implications with experts. Sessions like these reflect ADVICO’s commitment to turning research insights into meaningful, real-world guidance for the industry.

November, 2025

At this year’s SASEV Conference, Logan Jooste shared ADVICO’s key learnings from multi-year cover crop trials. The session highlighted how matching cover crops to local conditions, vineyard goals, and pest pressures can make all the difference—and provided growers with a practical selection framework.

October 29, 2025

We recently celebrated a significant milestone with the official launch of our new identity, ADVICO, at Rupert & Rothschild. Formerly known as the GEN-Z Vineyard Project, this rebrand marks our evolution into a collective dedicated to advancing viticulture across South Africa. The new identity reflects our commitment to strengthening the link between research and real-world vineyard application through practical, collaborative initiatives. With ADVICO, we continue our mission to support growers and drive resilience, sustainability, and innovation throughout the wine industry.