Healthy soil is a key component of sustainability. A healthy soil will produce plants that have optimum vigor and are less susceptible to pests and disease. All vineyards have particular pests that attack even the healthiest of plants, but proper soil, water and nutrient management can help prevent some problems brought on by plant stress or nutrient imbalance. Sustainable viticultural practices improve soil quality resulting in a more efficient use of water nutrients and pesticides to optimize grape quality.
Instead of trying to kill everything but the vines, cover crops between rows—mixes of grasses, beans, and other native plants—attract beneficial insects, helping control potentially destructive insects with much less spraying. The cover crops get tilled back into the soil, providing nitrogen and other nutrients, reducing the need for chemical fertilizer. Net result: happier grapevines, fewer synthetic inputs to the vineyards.
Being a vineyard that farms using traditional, sustainable, organic and biodynamic methods entails having a very active presence in our vineyards and therefore more in touch with our vines. It’s simple logic: a farmer that walks the fields five days a week has a better chance of sensing minute changes and thus not having to take dramatic steps to adjust to problems (i.e. spraying a ton of chemicals).