If we had a dollar for every time we are asked ‘what’s going on in the vineyard?’, instead of trying to recreate a recipe ourselves, we’d be asking Rick Stein himself to cater our staff lunches .We do, though, love the inquisitive visitor who wants to know more, and the Bethany Estate has looked very different lately. Until Wednesday, the tall stems of triticale hid those beautiful, gnarled old Grenache bush vines that normally greet our visitors & now some Shiraz vines resemble fence posts more than vines. So, what is going on in the Turkey Flat vineyards, are we diversifying considerably and adding cereal crops to our product range?

In short, no, you don’t need to be on the lookout for Turkey Flat bread products in a supermarket near you, we’re looking after a very precious asset, the soil. With poor soil quality it is near impossible to grow good quality grapes. And without good quality grapes you can’t make good quality wine, simple as that. You may think that another plant in the vines’ territory would cause conflict, but with careful selection, they work extremely well together. Let’s have a brief look at the key benefits of the Triticale cover crop here;

• The dense crop and its root system suppress weeds, without the need for pesticides.

• Improves the water quality – by reducing run-off from winter rains, protecting the precious top-soil and its nutrients from entering the storm water system.

• Enhances the vine mineral nutrition (soil fertility) through a number of ways;

  • Freeing inherent nutrients in the soil & air, as well as making them available for the vines to use (through Carbon & Nitrogen fixation)

  • Improving the bio-diversity of the soil, the organic matter (roots & remnants of the tilled crop) provide food for macro & micro-organisms, increasing earthworm populations and reducing damage from root pathogens by inhibiting their growth & development (in effect working like compost on the vegie patch)

• Improves the soil structure – the roots of the cover crop penetrate and break up the soil, assisting the movement of air and water. In clay-type soils this also loosens the soil making it easier for the vine roots to penetrate further.

• Draws excess water – very important in wet years like this. We do like the vines to experience some water stress, which reduces yield and produces a wine with intensified characteristics, all those things you love about a dry-grown vine.

In another area of the Bethany Estate we have been using mulch to retain moisture levels (did you see our Smurf village photos on Facebook?). Here, the young Roussanne vines are a thirstier variety and the mulch offers protection and nutrition, giving them the best possible start for the coming season.

The ‘East Shiraz Block’ on the Bethany Estate is seeing the most dramatic change this season. Cut right back to a single trunk, this dramatic, long-term process will ensure that these vines go back to producing the top-quality fruit of their past.

The over-arching focus here at Turkey Flat Vineyards is on wine quality from the vineyard perspective. We’re not afraid of experimentation, over the next few years you’ll likely see changes and different tactics used in order to find the best, sustainable systems for each of our very different vineyards. We’re putting the health of the soil and the vines first and are looking forward watch the quality of our wine rise to even higher levels. Most importantly, as custodians of this ancient vineyard, such systems will ensure that our vines will continue to be here, producing top-quality fruit for another 167 years and beyond.

Cheers! Emily Hay