Vineyards are monocultures which are fundamentally unnatural, unbalanced environments that Nature strives constantly to correct. In conventional farming, the vineyard becomes the battlefield where a damaging war is continuously waged between the farmer and life. Nature has an arsenal that includes disease outbreaks, pest infestations and aggressive, pioneering weeds. The farmer responds with poisonous herbicides, fungicides and insecticides, and desperate amounts of harsh chemical fertilisers that artificially sustain the vines while killing off all micro-life in the soil. It is a war that never ends, with heavy casualties borne on both sides, high costs for the farmer, and a variety of negative side-effects that ripple out to impact on consumers of the products derived from the farm. Like any war, it also leaves insults and scars that severely compromise the well-being of future generations.
Meeting the challenges of monoculture
At Avondale we were determined to do things differently. Instead, we joined forces with Nature to help mitigate the impact of monoculture on the environment and promote life.
We respect and appreciate that all Nature aims to do is transform a vineyard into a healthy, balanced ecosystem. We are constantly learning from Nature and emulating its ways of sustaining an ecosystem to the advantage of our vines. We find our rewards for this in our yields of premium quality grapes that are full of delicious, natural flavour. This enables us to make our great-tasting wines naturally without any need for artificial additives to alter the characteristics of a wine compromised by the poor farming of the grapes. By working with Nature, we are able to make use of its great genius and tireless capacity to keep on creating conditions conducive to more life.