Australia’s First Regenerative Organic Certified Vineyard

Inkwell was certified as Australia’s first Regenerative Organic Certified ® (ROC) vineyard (and one of the first twenty vineyards in the world) in late December 2023 by the Regenerative Organic Alliance ™ and Australian Certified Organic. The “Silver” level awarded is the highest level possible for a first-year accreditation. With more than 2,300,000 hectares certified in more than twenty countries since its founding in 2017, the ROC accreditation is the pinnacle of ethical and sustainable agricultural practice worldwide.

Inkwell’s regenerative journey began in 2016 when we observed that surface soil temperatures exceeded 60 degrees Celsius on a hot day in one exposed portion of our vineyard. Given that 30 minutes at 62 degrees kills all life, we were not surprised when the vines in that area spontaneously aborted all of their fruit later that day. We realized then that we had a problem that would get worse with time and could only be solved by changing what we were doing or by removing vines.

Serendipitously, Dudley was recuperating from a double knee replacement in 2017 and reading a lot. He found the seminal books on regenerative farming, Gabe Brown’s book “Dirt to Soil” and “Growing a Revolution” by David Montgomery, and was hooked. The goal of regenerative farming is to restore soil health and sequester soil carbon. The principles of regenerative farming were so common sense and intuitively connected that we started testing this approach in 2018 and were “all in” by 2021.

To be certified ROC however, much more is required than just following the regenerative model. ROC’s mandate is to rehabilitate soil, respect animal welfare and improve the lives of farmers by sequestering carbon and building healthier communities by reaping more nutritious and abundant yields. Perhaps more importantly, the spirit of regenerative farming is to share what we know as fast as we can to save ourselves from ongoing climate change.

Inkwell’s head winemaker and viticulturist as well as author of the Sustainable Australian Winegrowing system in 2014 Dr. Irina Santiago-Brown commented that “for Inkwell to be recognized as the first winemaker at this level by the most significant new accreditation in agriculture in the last thirty years is humbling because it is an indication of how far the Australian winemaking industry has to go in addressing climate change by removing CO2 from the air and sequestering it permanently in soil. This approach makes for healthier and more diverse soil life for vines while reducing inputs and cost over time. Our hope is that this approach is rapidly adopted by wine grape growers and farmers everywhere starting today.”

For those who would like to know more about regenerative agriculture viticulture, please read below.

The core principles of regenerative farming are:

1) Keep the ground covered with diverse families (grasses and broad leaves including legumes, vegetables and forbs) of plants or plant residues year-round to feed communities of microbes, fungi and insects

2) Reduce or, ideally, eliminate soil disturbance by cultivation, ploughing etc.

3) Reduce or, ideally, eliminate the use of synthetic herbicides, insecticides and fertilizers

4) Encourage biodiversity wherever possible

5) Incorporate grazing animals using cell grazing techniques

At Inkwell, we follow all of these principles except for intentional grazing. (But, the kangaroos do help out.)

(Partial) Reading List:

Dirt to Soil, Gabe Brown

Growing a Revolution, David Montgomery

Call of the Reed Warbler, Charles Massey

What Your Food Ate, David Montgomery, Ann Bikle

Quality Agriculture, John Kempf

A Soil Owners Manual, John Sitka

The Hidden Half of Nature, David Montgomery

Entangled Life, Merlin Sheldrake

For the Love of Soil, Nicole Masters

Healing Grounds, Liz Carlisle

What Our Competition Taught a Sustainability Expert, Dr. Irina Santiago-Brown

Jancis Robinson’s 2020 Sustainability Writing Competition

Is Being Sustainable Enough for Australian Wine?, Richard Leask

Over the Rainbow – Sustainability and Farming Systems, Dudley Brown

Regenerative Agriculture and the Future of Viticulture, Mimi Casteel

(Nearly) Current list of ROC farms worldwide

Video and Podcast List:

Search YouTube and Podcast directories for all of the authors mentioned above to watch or listen to. There are hundreds.