Regenerative viticulture’s role in the future of wine

Leask is one of two brothers who run their family’s McLaren Vale estate in South Australia, where the fall-out of climate change and global warming feels very real. Their Hither & Yon website describes him as the “outdoors” brother: he’s the grape grower (viticulturist) as well as winemaker. Not your typical scholar, perhaps — but his 47-pager makes a compelling case for the role of regenerative agricultural (RA) principles in the future of wine.

In a nub, RA is a rehab programme for soil health. It’s about getting more out of the natural world by working with, learning from and harnessing nature, rather than over-riding it through synthetic chemical inputs to fertilise and to control pest and disease. It fosters balance through biodiversity above and below the ground, replaces monocultures with thriving ecosystems, and repositions farmers more as caretakers than manipulators of the natural world. Many of its principles are shared by biodynamic and organic farmers, but RA is not a closed club where you’re in or you’re out: it’s a set of principles with which any grower can begin the journey of regeneration. Its success is judged not by compliance to rules but by the health of the soil and its surrounding ecosystem.

We’re only really beginning to understand the complexities of living soil, and the wine world is only starting to embrace its opportunities. As Leask says, “Vineyards are, by nature, intensive farming systems with traditionally high amounts of synthetic and chemical inputs.” However, as his hopeful ‘Plain English Compendium Summary’ concludes, “Producers willing to change management practices [to ones] that place greater emphasis on improving soil health and microbial diversity will, over time, be able to reduce synthetic chemical inputs. Their production system will be more resilient to the continued climatic challenges facing producers and be able to take the full value of improved ecosystems and the services they provide.”

In 2020, California’s Tablas Creek became the first winery with Regenerative Organic certification. Around that time, English winemaker Stephen Cronk of Mirabeau en Provence went looking for viticulture-specific resources to help him rehabilitate an exhausted vineyard; finding a gap, he co-founded the skills-sharing Regenerative Viticulture Foundation, launched in 2022 and gathering momentum. That same year, Jamie Goode published a book on regenerative viticulture. ​​​​​​Leask is far from a lone voice.

Wines of the week

Hither & Yon Grenache Touriga 2021, McLaren Vale, Australia, 14.5pc, €29 From second-generation winemaking brothers taking their family estate on a sustainability journey, as active proponents for regenerative agriculture, and with Climate Active (carbon neutral) and Sustainable Winegrowing Australia certification. This floral and fruity yet peppery and spicy blend of Grenache and Touriga grapes is a match for game or lamb (or even hogget), with savoury undertones, generous body yet structured lift. Kelly’s Wine Vaults, Gibney’s of Malahide, Searson’s; searsons.com

Jours de Vigne Cazaban Vin Biologique, Pays d’Aude IGP, 2.5pc, €20.95 From an organic and biodynamic certified estate situated near Carcassonne at the foothills of the Montagne Noire, this Carignan-Grenache blend is poised with plush weight, elegant freshness and lifted notes of cherry blossom, redcurrant, raspberry and plum. Try with pork ribs or Greek grills. Mitchell & Son; mitchellandson.com

Tablas Creek Patelin de Tablas Rouge 2018, Paso Robles, California, 13pc, €34.95 From the first winery with Regenerative Organic certification, this Syrah-led Rhone blend features grapes grown sustainably by neighbours. Earthy, peppery, brambly and smoky, supple with a twist of sour and fine tannic structure. Mitchell & Son, The Corkscrew, Redmonds of Ranelagh, Clontarf Wines, Blackrock Cellar, wineonline.ie

Mirabeau Classic Rosé, Cotes de Provence AOP 2021, France, 12.5pc, €21-€25 The original Grenache-led cuvée from Maison Mirabeau, balancing crisp elegance with concentration and length that is a good match for white meats and fish. B Corp certified. Dunnes Stores, Brown Thomas, Next Door, Donnybrook Fair, Bradleys, wineonline.ie

Cortese Nostru Catarratto Lucido 2021, Terre Siciliane IGP, Italy, 12.5pc, €17 At the certified organic Azienda Agricola Cortese, oenologist Stefano Girelli brought a near-abandoned estate back to health and sources organic grapes from neighbours, such as indigenous Catarratto for this papaya and linden perfumed wine, with its glycerol texture and mineral bite. O’Briens Wine; obrienswine.ie