NEWS
GreenTalk with CarrickBack to News
27 Feb 2021
What inspired you to create a BioGro accredited range of wines?
The path to becoming certified organic began with Steve and Barbara Green who were the original founders and owners of the estate. They lived onsite and understood the importance of what they were using on their land would eventually end up in the water that surrounded the vineyard. The vineyard is bordered by the Kawarau River to the North and the Bannockburn inlet to the west. Certification seemed like an obvious choice to ensure we were meeting the highest industry standards, we have been fully certified for almost 10 years now.
What were the main challenges you faced in order to get it launched; and are you still facing these challenges today?
There is an initial drop in vigour that was experienced when conversion begins, which lead to a slight drop in yield after 3 years. Since then there has been a lot of work done to find balance between what the soils can offer the vines and what crop levels can be maintained without being detrimental to wine quality and vine health. A lot of this comes down to pruning which is based on the vines growth the year prior. Asking less or more of the vine for the year ahead by reading its performance the year before.
Building organic matter into the soils has been a big challenge. Our windblown loess soils have poor water holding ability, this coupled with low rainfall and the high winds stripping moisture away it has been difficult to establish green manure cover crops and flowering rows. The soils have a high mineral content, but are low in fertility so we need as much compost as possible!
What were the most memorable, defying moments during this time?
Hard to say, each season presents its own challenges.
What helped you to see it through to the end?
Knowing that we were doing right by our community and our land, but also improving the quality of our wines.
What are your plans for the next 5 years?
We will continue to build on the experience and knowledge of the past decade and dive deeper into the needs of each vineyard parcel to better support the soil and the life which supports our vines.
www.carrick.co.nz
The path to becoming certified organic began with Steve and Barbara Green who were the original founders and owners of the estate. They lived onsite and understood the importance of what they were using on their land would eventually end up in the water that surrounded the vineyard. The vineyard is bordered by the Kawarau River to the North and the Bannockburn inlet to the west. Certification seemed like an obvious choice to ensure we were meeting the highest industry standards, we have been fully certified for almost 10 years now.
What were the main challenges you faced in order to get it launched; and are you still facing these challenges today?
There is an initial drop in vigour that was experienced when conversion begins, which lead to a slight drop in yield after 3 years. Since then there has been a lot of work done to find balance between what the soils can offer the vines and what crop levels can be maintained without being detrimental to wine quality and vine health. A lot of this comes down to pruning which is based on the vines growth the year prior. Asking less or more of the vine for the year ahead by reading its performance the year before.
Building organic matter into the soils has been a big challenge. Our windblown loess soils have poor water holding ability, this coupled with low rainfall and the high winds stripping moisture away it has been difficult to establish green manure cover crops and flowering rows. The soils have a high mineral content, but are low in fertility so we need as much compost as possible!
What were the most memorable, defying moments during this time?
Hard to say, each season presents its own challenges.
What helped you to see it through to the end?
Knowing that we were doing right by our community and our land, but also improving the quality of our wines.
What are your plans for the next 5 years?
We will continue to build on the experience and knowledge of the past decade and dive deeper into the needs of each vineyard parcel to better support the soil and the life which supports our vines.
www.carrick.co.nz
