High-flying wine:
Switching to entirely organic processes to produce wine has reaped wide-ranging benefits at Central Otago’s Peregrine Winery as shown in this week’s Country Calendar. Melenie Parkes reports.
How the natural approach is reaping rewards.
Peregrine Winery is something of a landmark in Gibbston, Central Otago. It has won numerous architectural awards and it draws visitors from near and far.
The soaring roof of the winery is based on the rotation of flight of its namesake, the peregrine falcon.
“A peregrine’s wing action is probably the best way I can describe it,” says owner Lindsay McLachlan.
The structure makes a dramatic statement but it’s what you can’t see that perhaps makes the biggest impact on the land at Peregrine Wines.
When McLachlan bought into the ownership in 2007, Peregrine was still a traditional winemaking business. But after he and wife Jude attended a lecture at Otago University about the risks of controversial herbicide glyphosate, it was an easy decision to make the change to organic practices.
“It’s way better for our staff, which was a primary concern,” says McLachlan. “It’s way better for us and it’s way better for the land.
“So we didn’t do it as a marketing exercise. In fact, I don’t think we’ve ever promoted the concept that Peregrine is organic but we did it, fundamentally, because we believed it’s the natural way to go.”
McLachlan says some people are hesitant to make the switch to organic viticulture for fear it may be more expensive but it’s a process that has ultimately paid off for their two vineyards, located at Gibbston and Bendigo.
“The vines are more robust, they resist disease more, they produce wonderful quality fruit. We see a lot more worms and we see a lot more
insects. We see a lot more vegetative life in the vineyard, a lot more flowers. It’s just generally better all round, is our experience.
“The reality of it is that, yes, the transition is more expensive than just conventional viticulture. And yes, I think during the transition, you do lose yield.
“But once you’ve moved into a fully organic status and you’ve gone through that conversion, the cost of running the vineyards is no different than what they used to be for us. And we feel as though the quantity and the quality of the fruit that we get is enhanced.”
Having established themselves as award-winning makers of organic wine, Peregrine then moved towards creating a closed system – a practice which involves recycling organic matter, eliminating as many external inputs as possible and taking advantage of natural resources.
“We’ve just tried to use as much of the sunlight and the rain that comes over the fence for free as we possibly can,” laughs McLachlan, whose sons Fraser and Blair are both involved in the business.
“And we are fortunate to have land around our vineyard that can’t be used for vines. So we use it for farming practices and we run cattle. And then we use the cattle primarily to produce the compost and mix it with the waste from the winery and apply it back on to the land.
“So we’re basically recycling the pips and the skins and the rachis – which is the sort of skeleton of the bunch – back on to the land.”
McLachlan says it’s hard to achieve a truly closed system as there are some inputs – agricultural resources – that need to be brought in. But along with the cows, sheep and chickens also play their part at Peregrine to help keep the loop as closed as possible. The sheep help reduce the use of a tractor through the vineyard by nibbling the weeds between the vines. McLachlan says they’re very effective as they’re able to get right up to the trunk, unlike machinery.
“We have also had a lot of success with chooks reducing insects that might cause problems in the vineyard as well. We have a mobile chookhouse that we tow around and put it in the hot spots. And they do an excellent job. Work away all day unpaid – and then they give you an egg.”
Given their brand, it’s no surprise that Peregrine Wines has a soft spot for birds.
The company is a supporting member of the Wingspan Trust, which cares for injured birds that need rehabilitation, and they also work with the Department of Conservation to help preserve the endangered saddleback.
“And from time to time, we’ve been able to raise some peregrine chicks in specialised boxes on the property and those peregrines have stayed on site. So that’s awesome to see them soaring around the Central Otago skies.”