Making wine isn’t just about what is in your glass but all that goes into producing it, including healthy and nourished land, creating a healthy ecosystem for future generations.
We are passionate about stewarding our land; as farmers, we always seek the best methods. As we continue to expand our knowledge on farming our vineyard, we have been researching a new farming philosophy called regenerative farming.
Regenerative farming utilizes organic and ecological practices to encourage harmony with nature and create microbial interactions that contribute to soil health for a healthy grape harvest.
Soil can become devoid of nutrients due to improper farming practices requiring chemical interventions and leaving fields fallow while they regenerate. As you can imagine, this creates a problem with grape harvesting year after year.
Regenerative farming increases biodiversity and restores soil and plant health without the use of toxic chemicals that can find their way into our food and water sources.
While we have always utilized sustainable farming practices we are moving from sustainable organic farming to regenerative farming with a program of no-tilling to further enhance the health of the vineyard.
In the past, we would till the organic material (cover crops) into the vineyard rows on alternate rows every other year so that the material would fertilize the vines. We have since evolved our farming practices and learned that tilling has some drawbacks.
Breaking up the crust of the earth from tilling allows the air to penetrate deeper into the soil and dries out the moisture that the plants need.
The majority of the microbial activity takes place within the first 5 inches of the soil. When the soil is tilled, it disturbs that activity and slows the process of breaking down the organic material into usable nutrients for the plant.
By allowing native grasses and plants to grow in the vineyard, it keeps the weeds from taking over. Tilling increases erosion in the vineyard. When the vineyard floor is undisturbed it acts as a sponge that helps hold water in the subsoil. Since we dry-farm (we don’t irrigate) our vineyards, keeping the moisture in the soil is paramount.
Regenerative farming takes the focus from primarily soil health to that of healthy vines. The more we can encourage and nourish the plants the healthier the crop of grapes and the wine produced from it. Our goal is to craft wines with minimum intervention to reflect the terroir from where they are grown. We believe this results in better wines.
Next time you enjoy Natalie’s Estate wines we hope you will be reminded of the care that goes into each bottle of wine. Cheers!