History
Josef Lazarus and Candice Stephanou bought the farm in May 2002 when it was operating as a wholesale plant nursery. At the time it had just one vineyard of 0.6 hectare (Vineyard 1), the original Chenin Blanc planted in 1987, which won the award for the Best White Wine and Best Wine Overall in the 2009 Nedbank / WINE Magazine Green Wine Awards. During the next few years the farm was converted into an organic wine farm.

Location
Lazanou Organic Vineyards is situated in the picturesque Wellington valley approximately 45 minutes drive from Cape Town, South Africa.

Size
Lazanou Organic Vineyards is one of the smallest wine farms in South Africa. The full extent of the farm is 8.48 hectares, of which 5.54 hectares are under vineyards. The rest of the farm includes cow pastures, a few small olive groves, a fruit orchard, an earth dam, a bird sanctuary, various buildings and most importantly a number of biodiversity zones.

Organic
Lazanou Organic Vineyards is certified as an organic producer with SGS (Societe Generale de Surveillance), one of the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification bodies. International organic standards are practised in the vineyard and the cellar. The farm and cellar are audited every year to ensure that these standards are maintained. Biodiversity zones are created on the farm to encourage plant diversity and to attract natural predators to combat pests and diseases within the vineyards. No herbicides, pesticides or chemical fertilizers are used on the farm. The soils are continuously improved through extensive composting, mulching and planting of nitrogen fixing cover crops (green manuring) during the winter months. Compost is produced on the farm using our own cow manure, earthworms and organic materials from the farm. Snails are controlled by our ducks and chickens.

Soils
The farm includes a variety of soils suitable for the cultivars planted. Soils types include Escort, Klapmuts, Oakleaf, Tukulu, Vilafontes and Westleigh.