Down to earth

8 min read

REGENERATIVE VITICULTURE

The concept of ‘regenerative viticulture’ goes beyond organic and biodynamic practices, aiming to replenish vineyard soils and even mitigate climate change – producers around the world are increasingly buying into the philosophy

REPORT & RECOMMENDATIONS RUPERT JOY

Introducing animals into vineyards to control grass and provide manure is one method used to bring ecosystems into balance

Soil has been described as the Cinderella of sustainability. It is, as a recent scientific study put it, the most important but least understood part of the earth’s biosphere. Much of life on earth lies beneath our feet. Soil holds an astonishing diversity of animal life, from earthworms and insects to microorganisms and bacteria. Underground networks of plant roots and fungi interact in mutually beneficial ways, exchanging carbon for nutrients and water – a complex ecosystem, critical to maintaining healthy soil for plants to grow in.

The science of soil is complicated; there is much we don’t understand. But we know enough to grasp that our survival depends on it, and exhaustion of the world’s soils from intensive agriculture has got alarm bells ringing. According to the UN’s Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO), one third of the earth’s soil is degraded and 90% of topsoil is at risk of degradation by 2050. Speaking at the World Living Soils Forum in 2022, Ronald Vargas of the FAO stressed the challenges of raising awareness: ‘We stand on soil, but we don’t see or value it.’

Monocultures such as growing grapes for wine pose a particular challenge because, as South African producer Johan Reyneke (pictured p36) puts it, ‘they have to be propped up’. To produce healthy grape harvests, most vineyards have become dependent on limiting ecosystem biodiversity through the use of chemical treatments, which disrupt so-called ‘mycorrhizal’ soil networks connecting plant roots and fungi, thereby reducing soil health. When Reyneke started growing grapes, he was determined not to use chemicals. ‘I was very idealistic and didn’t really know what I was doing,’ he says. ‘I just wanted to do the right thing. Someone told me I was organic by neglect and I needed to become organic by design. That was the turning point.’ Two decades on, Reyneke is a leading advocate of ‘regenerative’ practices in viticulture, part of a wider global movement to change the way we farm.