BLOG — Grape Growing

Our composting program is a big part of our sustainability goals, allowing us to ‘give back” to our soils in a very natural way.  Healthy soils lead to healthy vines, and healthy vines produce balanced fruit and vibrant fermentations.

The compost cycle is fundamental to life on earth, and fascinating to understand.  In a well-functioning natural system (somewhat simplified):

• Animals feed off plants.
• Animal waste and other dead plant material are decomposed by microbiology into their raw constituents.
• Another set of microbiology (“humifying” microbiology) then creates short and long chain humus (a clay/organic complex) that serves as a resilient and long term storage of nutrients.
• A further set of microbiology, fed by sugar and other stimulants from plants, then breaks down the humus to release nutrients to feed the plant

This last step is crucial, and is the fundamental difference between natural and conventional farming systems.   Conventional agriculture feeds the plant directly though the use of artificial nutrients (often mined or created as the by-product of industrial processes), bypassing the first steps in the cycle.  While this can be a cost effective practice in the short term, it can do significant environmental damage, including acidifying the soil, breaking down soil structure, reducing soil carbon and increasing the chances of damaging nutrient runoff.  Pre-settlement reserves of long and short chain humus in agricultural soils were quickly depleted, and now generally replaced by artificial substitutes. 

At Yarrh, we’ve gone some way to replicating (and accelerating) the natural nutrient cycle by introducing a composting program.  We use winery waste (eg stalks, skins, seeds from the vintage), manures, straw, green waste and a little clay, to produce a highly humified compost (replicating Steps 2-3 above), then spread this through the vineyard.  This composting process takes about 6 weeks, and first goes through a breakdown process (Step 2) for about 2 weeks, then through a build up process (Step 3) where humus is created, and a stable state reached. 

When spread in the vineyard the cycle continues, with soil macro and micro biology incorporating the compost into the soil and reacting to stimulants from plants to release nutrients (Step 4).  Rather than force feeding the vines, we allow them to decide what they want and when they want it.

We don’t yet have a fully functioning natural system, but the place is certainly looking a lot healthier and happier over the decade we’ve been doing this.  The vines are strong, worms thrive, clovers go mad, and our soil’s water holding capacity buffers us from dry and hot conditions.  We still need to supplement the natural system at times, but at much lower rates than we’d done in the past - mainly a small, well timed shot of nitrogen in late spring when vine demand peaks.

Come out and taste the difference!

After a decade or so of conventional growing (heavy reliance of artificial fertilisers, herbicides, chemical pesticides) we noticed that our soils were deteriorating, and our vines were requiring more and more inputs to stay in shape – we were chasing our tail.

While the dogmatism (and bureaucracy) of pure organic growing didn’t appeal to us, we knew there was much to be learned from more traditional forms of farming, and modern adaptations of these practices.  To my grandfather, a dairy famer in southern Western Australia, recycling manure back onto grazing paddocks was simply the way things were done.

So we spent some time looking at what others were doing in both viticulture and broader agriculture to improve soil health and sustainability.  It’s a jungle (pun intended!) out there!  SO MANY OPINIONS, so little proof, so many with something to sell, but some common themes begin to emerge, and some elemental truths revealed themselves:

• Stop feeding the plant directly, and allow the plant to feed itself
• Nurture biodiversity
• Build your soil carbon (and hence soil structure)
• Intervene only when necessary

Although it sounds simple, this takes a while to work through, and apply to your own land, crop and circumstances.  Goals are one thing, putting practices in place to achieve them is another.   Over a number of years, we put in place:

• Permanent Vineyard Sward – nurture soil microbiology and create a home for “beneficials”
• Composting Program – accelerate the natural carbon cycle, boost soil microbiology, allow the vines to feed themselves, recycle “waste”
• Minimise artificial inputs – reduce impact on soil microbiology and other “beneficials” and improve sustainability by minimising the use of herbicides, artificial fertilisers and harsh pesticides.

The last one seems to be the most controversial – you’ll notice it says “minimise” not “eliminate”.  We now use less than 10% of the herbicide we used to use, mainly to control invasive weeds such as blackberry and serrated tussock (a huge problem for local graziers).  In a dry year, we may use an early season contact herbicide on some blocks to keep competition for resources (water, nutrients) down for the vines.  While this isn’t pure organics, it certainly reduces our diesel use!

It’s been almost a decade since we put these practices in place - so what’s changed?  Has it been worth the effort?   There have been some setbacks (Cabernet DOES NOT LIKE competition for water and nutrients), but on the whole we have seen a huge leap in vine health and fruit quality.  The most visible signs are:

• Vines that find their own balance (fruit/leaf ratio) in any given year – time spent looking after the soil is offset by less time spent mucking around with canopies.
• Vineyard resilience – improved soil structure and water holding capacity means the vines are able to deal with dry spells and hot conditions much better.
• Improved biodiversity – the vineyard is full a bees, moths, bugs, spiders, lizards, and heathy soil microbiology quickly breaks down organic matter.
• More vibrant wines (now we’re getting to the relevance!)– flavours, colour, sugar and acid are coming together earlier, resulting in more flavourful, better balanced wines.

A friend of ours, interested in what we do, said “so if you’re not organic, and your definitely not bio-dynamic, what are ya?”.  I think we’re rational farmers who want to produce the highest quality wines we can, while leaving our soils and farm in better shape for the next generation.  But that’s hard to put into a natty label, isn’t it?

Best way is to come out and taste the difference for yourself.  We love people who care not only how their wine tastes but how its made!

My goodness, our 20^th anniversary!  Starting out as “Yass River Vineyard”, we planted our first vines, Cabernet Sauvignon, on 22 November 1997, in an old sheep paddock off a dirt road.  Three more plantings over the next three years saw the vineyard completed.  Six hectares were duly trained, watered, weeded and fed, giving us our first small crop in 2001.

Our first vintage was a small batch of Cabernet Sauvignon made with borrowed equipment in the garage.  Not bad for a first try, either.  Not sure that we have any left, which is always a good sign.

Next was the winery.  We wanted long term sustainability and a building that blended into the landscape, finally settling on a passive solar design featuring straw bale, rammed earth, and classic aussie corro.   It works well, not only as a place to make wine and serve our guests, but also as a magnificent bush retreat for friends and family.  How’s the serenity!  

We opened our doors in December 2004.  Friends, family, neighbours and colleagues gathered to witness our welcome to the land by Eric Bell (now deceased), one of our local aboriginal elders.  It was a moving ceremony, reminding us that we are just temporary custodians of this land within a timespan of profound immensity.

Some highlights over the years:

• Grafting in two new clones of Sangiovese, now some Fiano
• Exporting to China, Norway and Vietnam (although we now concentrate exclusively on the domestic market)
• Introducing a new label
• Transitioned to a hybrid conventional/organic farming regime
• Discovering the world of “natural” wines (or “natchies”)
• Being rated a 4 ½ star winery by James Halliday
• Helping Hartley Lifecare and our local bush fire brigade with their fundraising

And here’s a few rough numbers from the last 20 years:

• 13,000 vines planted, trained and managed
• 400 tonnes of grapes crushed
• 200,000 litres of wine bottled
• 500 tonnes of compost made
• A couple of thousand Wine Club packs delivered
• 30-40 medals awarded
• 33 wine festivals celebrated
• 90 monthly food and wine matching lunches served
• 13 winter solstice bonfires lit
• Thousands of happy (well, mostly!) customers, many now long term (thank you, you know who you are)

“Why do you do it?” people sometimes ask.  It’s not for fame and fortune, that’s for others.  It’s certainly tremendously satisfying to make award winning wines from our own vineyard, and see these wines bring so much joy to our customers. 

Maybe a better question is - does the world need Yarrh Wines?  We think so.  Delicious, food friendly, Canberra District wines, estate grown and bottled (paddock to plate, vineyard to bottle) made and presented without pretention, for a fair price – that’s a combination Australian wine lovers need.

Finally, a potted history of Yarrh wouldn’t be complete without an acknowledgement of our past partners – Peter McGregor (now deceased) as an early partner in our vineyard venture, and Peta and Chris MacKenzie Davey (now trying to retire!), who took the leap of faith from their cosy cottage in Leeds, UK, to set off on their own adventure in the wilds of Murrumbateman, Australia.  Then of course there is our beautiful daughter Julia, who’s grown up at Yarrh, and in her gap year is now pruning vineyards across the district.  Thanks to all!

 NM and FW