Page 48 - GrapevineMarApr 2022

Around
Around The VineyardThe Vineyard

felt like the natural next step for the company, ment that no other certification really talks about.”
which started a regenerative and biodynamic trial
on its estate vineyards in late 2020. The goals of The third pillar of regenerative farming is animal
this study are to understand what effects these welfare and using them to replace machines when
practices have on yield, costs, overall fruit and wine possible. For example using sheep at the tail end
quality, but also share the lessons learned along of harvest to: clean up the weeds and cover crops,
the way. recirculate nutrients back in through manure and
reduce the overwintering detrimental spores of dis-
From Organic to Regenerative Viticulture ease.

The main difference between regenerative organ- Regenerative & Biodynamic Study at
ic certification and organic is the focus on the ben- Robert Hall Winery
eficial ecological and social outcomes. One of the
three main objectives is to build soil organic matter In 2020, Robert Hall initiated a multi-year trial of
to improve yield without the need for synthetic new tactics designed to profitably achieve regen-
inputs while sequestering carbon as a way to fight erative and biodynamic certification in 43 acres of
climate change. their Paso Robles estate vineyards’ 130 acres. The
remaining 87 acres are still farmed under the sus-
It also evaluates the social components of farm- tainable guidelines and serve as control during the
ing. “Without the people working in the vineyard, study.
we wouldn’t have much of an industry. Looking
after employees, giving them access to anything The vineyard management - pruning, shoot thin-
they need, and paying a living wage over a mini- ning, wire lifting, etc. - is exactly the same in both
mum wage is a big piece of the regenerative move- blocks. The study compares multiple metrics in the

Robert Hall’s Estate Vineyards

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