Biological Farming

Over the past six years there has been a radical change in the winemaking philosophy at De Bortoli Wines. We believe great wine is not the result of  technical winemaking wizardry but rather of understanding the piece of dirt in which it is grown. Nurturing our soils contributes to overall vine health, which in turn produces better quality fruit. Taking a 'hands-off' approach once the fruit is in the winery and allowing the wine to 'make itself' leads to wines  with beauty and detail.

The focus has initially been in our  Yarra Valley vineyards where we have  adopted the biological farming techniques of Dr Elaine Ingham of Soil Food  Web Australia, to improve the microbial activity and water holding capacity of our soils and move away from conventional chemical use.  Some practices such as the use of compost and mulch are increasingly being used across our other vineyards in the Riverina, the Hunter and King Valleys, but it is the Yarra Valley where the farming model that we hope to implement across all our properties is being created.

More than 150 Ha has been converted in 2008 with the balance to be converted in 2009 (100 Ha). As far as we are aware, this is the largest vineyard in Australia using this biological viticulture method . The conversion cost to these farming practices is high, but ongoing costs should be ‘line ball’ with those used for conventional farming.

Biological farming is a more suitable approach for De Bortoli than organics. There are many good aspects to organics but our concern is that the natural fungicides used, copper and sulphur are non-selective and kill  beneficial micro-organisms [fungi and bacteria] as well as the bad guys. Using biological compost tea,  the good micro-organisms out compete the disease causing micro-organisms, improving the health of vines and soil,  and is a much better solution for controlling disease in the vineyard.

Other practices are mechanical weed removal rather than using traditional herbicides, cover crop planting for weed suppression, mulching which  provides habitat and food source for beneficial insects,  and alternating vineyard traffic to reduce soil compaction.

So how do we check on the health of our soils? One method is by counting worms and monitoring their activity.