Mother Nature's Bounty

We always talk about how important dry farming is, but wow, this article by Jay Famiglietti is a goldmine. He shares an illuminating stat: "...in the wine industry, 95% of water use takes place in the vineyard and only 5% in the winery." 

An important consideration here is not just how much water we use, but how much energy we use to move water around (and how much water is used to create that energy). This is yet another benefit of our choice to work with dry farmed vines, as we use no energy/fossil fuels to pump water to the plants. Additionally, when considering groundwater recharge he asks: "Where are the opportunities? Where are the locations for recharge? How much can we do? Where do we do it? Are the fields in good enough shape? Do they have too many fertilizers that are just gonna end up contaminating the groundwater? These are all things that need our attention, actively.” The fertilizer question in particular sticks out to me because it's not just dry farming that we employ to ease watering woes—we also don't use synthetic (liquid-based) fertilizers that, at high concentrations, could contaminate our water. Compost breaks down slowly and doesn't have the potential to contaminate water in the same way.

When we put Mother Nature at the forefront of our decision-making, we harvest healthier fruit and cultivate sustaining vineyard ecosystems.