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A Greener World's Sustainable Farming Magazine — Spring 2024 — V9 I1

News: Filthy Rich – A wealth of nutrients beneath your feet; Regenerative viticulture; Hosting on-farm events; New AGW label rules Cover feature: Start With The Soil Opinion: Regenerative Is For Everyone Technical: A New Vintage Technical: Get On My Land! Certification News: Labeled For Success Meet the Farmer: Message In A BOTL (BOTL Farm in Ashford, CT)

News: Filthy Rich – A wealth of nutrients beneath your feet; Regenerative viticulture; Hosting on-farm events; New AGW label rules
Cover feature: Start With The Soil
Opinion: Regenerative Is For Everyone
Technical: A New Vintage
Technical: Get On My Land!
Certification News: Labeled For Success
Meet the Farmer: Message In A BOTL (BOTL Farm in Ashford, CT)

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According to the Regenerative Viticulture<br />

Foundation, less than 20% of vineyards around<br />

the world have signed up to some kind of sustainability<br />

scheme. Of these, just 6% are certified<br />

organic, while less than 1% are certified biodynamic.<br />

In this context, the state of regenerative viticulture<br />

is still embryonic by comparison. Yet, just like<br />

regenerative agriculture, the level of interest in<br />

regenerative wine production around the world<br />

is growing exponentially.<br />

What Is regenerative?<br />

Although humans have cultivated grapevines<br />

for thousands of years, it is only in the last few<br />

decades that the devastating impact on vineyard<br />

soils and biodiversity from the application of<br />

intensive production methods and the widespread<br />

use of agrochemicals has become so apparent.<br />

Regenerative viticulture is arguably a return to<br />

tradition, but in a modern context. At its heart, it<br />

is about regenerating or restoring the soil and local<br />

environment. The underlying principles focus on<br />

working with the environment and its natural fauna<br />

(rather than against them) to rebuild soil health,<br />

enhance biodiversity, sequester atmospheric<br />

carbon, and improve water cycles, as well as<br />

consider the human element of those that live<br />

and work the land. Key practices include minimal<br />

soil disturbance, cover cropping, composting,<br />

integrated livestock grazing, agroforestry, and<br />

holistic land management.<br />

The overarching goal is to create resilient<br />

viticulture systems that can adapt to changing<br />

environmental conditions and reduce reliance on<br />

inputs while delivering long-term sustainability<br />

and productivity and enhancing the lives of those<br />

working in the industry. In practice, this includes:<br />

Introducing nitrogen-fixing plants as cover crops<br />

and/or companion plants<br />

Integrating livestock, like chickens or sheep, to<br />

produce the manure that is essential to feeding<br />

the soil naturally<br />

Adopting no- or low-tilling practices to minimize<br />

disruption of the soil ecosystem and enhance<br />

the water-holding capacity of the soil<br />

Reducing reliance on chemical inputs like<br />

synthetic fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides<br />

Increasing business resilience to climate change.<br />

Terroir<br />

In a recent article on regenerative viticulture in<br />

Sommeliers Choice, Charlie Leary argues that “soils<br />

should be looked after like the treasure for future<br />

quality products that they are.” Perhaps the reason<br />

why the regenerative approach resonates strongly<br />

in the modern viticulture world is that is aligns<br />

so closely with the deep-held French concept of<br />

‘terroir’: the idea that a great wine gains much of its<br />

character from the particular ecosystem where the<br />

grapes were grown. For, as Mimi Casteel of Bethel<br />

Heights Vineyard in Oregon says, “the real ceiling<br />

on terroir is the biology, the life that built the place<br />

that you’re from.”<br />

A toolkit<br />

Speaking at the launch of the Regenerative<br />

Viticulture Foundation in 2023, Master of Wine<br />

Justin Howard-Sneyd described regenerative<br />

agriculture as “a toolkit rather than a prescriptive<br />

set of rules.” While the approach of a vineyard<br />

owner in England will be significantly different<br />

to that of a grower in California, he argues, both<br />

can adopt regenerative practices that will help to<br />

improve soil health and biodiversity where they are.<br />

A NEW VINTAGE<br />

Regenerative practices are transforming the wine industry.<br />

Wayne Copp raises a glass<br />

LEFT: FAMILLE GASSIER (LEFT) | RIGHT: FRANCKREPORTER/ISTOCK<br />

8 • SUSTAINABLE FARMING • SPRING <strong>2024</strong><br />

SPRING <strong>2024</strong> • SUSTAINABLE FARMING • 9

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