Green & Red

We all know that we are facing some significant challenges in
the years ahead as we address the impact climate change will
have on our world. As a family from a farming background we
have always had a strong belief in our responsibility to be
stewards and caretakers of not only our own property but also
the wider environment as we want to be proud to hand it on to
our children in a healthy state.

Metala has been proactive in adopting and trialing new and more environmentally sensitive farming practices for many years. For example many of our broad acre cropping soils are quite light
and so over the years we have developed the practice of direct seeding with minimal tillage to encourage the integrity of those soils. In the vineyard we also crop our mid rows during the
winter months with legumes and cereals. These are then sprayed
off and rolled flat to create a mulch mat that adds organic matter, suppresses weeds, reducing spraying requirements, and also
retains our precious moisture.

Our understanding of our soils has led us to follow a program
of minimal passes over the vineyard to reduce soil compaction. Whenever possible we will combine activities to achieve more
than one outcome at a time.

Water is one of the most precious resources and we have been
using state of the art dripper systems which are computer controlled for accuracy for over 20 years. As new technologies
are developed we are open to trial and measure their usefulness
to our enterprise. Irrigation is scheduled according to data we retrieve from the soil moisture monitoring system which is set
up in every one of our 40 blocks.

The winery operates entirely on rainwater which is captured
after use and treated on site. This water is then pumped out
to a 10 Hectare woodlot site established to regenerate an area
of remnant vegetation on our property. 

In fact we have undertaken a planned program of revegetation over the past decade which now covers over 10% of our land, complimenting the ancient River Red gum swamps which are also under our care. The children from the Langhorne Creek Primary School have been involved in  an annual planting program on our land which supports a wider community revegetation program.

Part of that program has been to support other growers in the area to meet their obligation to have 2 Hectares of native vegetation for each 100 megalitres of water licence they hold. This assists in maintaining and improving the local water table. We have made available suitable land to  a community group who then  plant and maintain local native vegetation.

Within the vineyard the use of pesticides is essentially non existent. Our approach is known as Integrated Pest Management where we encourage natural predators to do the work for us. The use of the revegetation belts around the vineyards contribute heavily to this with native birds and animals using them for shelter and feeding in the vineyard.

Like many businesses we have looked carefully at the impact our practices have on the wider environment. One strength of being an estate producer is the smaller distances and hence lower carbon emissions involved in our production. Our businesses purchase and use 100% green offset electricity and we have an active recycling and recovery program for goods such as cardboard, glass and plastic.

We don’t claim to be the “greenest” winery but we do genuinely work towards the long term health of our own and the wider environment. After all, nurturing our vineyards through sensitive environmental practices is what will enable  the 6th Generation to be able to enjoy it the way we have.

 

As many of you would be aware, Lower Lakes and Coorong are currently in a desperate state due to low flows down the Murray Darling system and over allocation all the way down. This of course has a major impact on Langhorne Creek as a growing region as we all work to find sustainable and innovative solutions. Recently Tyson Stelzer visited the area and penned a thoughtful piece for the June edition of Wine Business Monthly.