Wine-making through biodynamics

Biodynamic compost tea might not sound like everybody's, well, cup of tea, but for Sean Phillips of Seresin Estate making the rich soup of nutrients for 113 hectares of vines is pretty much a fulltime job.

While other vineyards use fertilisers, herbicides and other pest controls, Seresin has been using the holistic biodynamic approach to growing since the mid-90s.

Actually defining biodynamics is not simple, Sean says, but to many people it will seem like organic farming, and then some.

Certainly all their work is done organically, but biodynamics is about working with all aspects of nature, from the soil to the birds and even to astrological cycles.

"You could write books about what biodynamics is," Sean says. "It's a way of looking at your land as a whole and trying to understand the connections to see it as a living organism – even to the birds that eat your grapes."

Seresin actually has an unusual way of dealing with the latter problem. As well as using some nets they leave the exterior, less productive, rows of vines uncovered to encourage the birds to go after just these ones. Then they net the next 20 rows but leave the rest uncovered.

They also pick all their grapes by hand, weeding out any signs of disease – not an easy task over 113 hectares.

Sean trained in viticulture in his home town of Blenheim in 1990 and worked for Hamish Young when grape growers would often still grow other crops.

After time at other vineyards, he lived in Australia and Europe, also travelling in parts of Asia.

The vineyards had changed beyond all recognition when he returned to Marlborough five years ago, Sean says.

"When I was doing my `apprenticeship' I was told that they would never grow grapes out at Riverlands or parts of the Awatere or Omaka, but it seemed that grapes had gone everywhere."

Through his experiences living and working abroad, Sean saw there was an alternative to using the chemicals that he had used – and that were still being used – on the vines.

Despite his training in viticulture and gardening, when Sean got his first shot at a job at Seresin it was as a tractor driver.

But he got lucky and after an employee left just two weeks into Sean's recruitment he was given an opportunity to get his hands dirty.

"I was in there doing everything so tractor driving was in the background," he said.

"They put me through the organic and biodynamic course in Hawke's Bay which really teaches you to look at things through different eyes."

In keeping with the holistic principles of biodynamics, all the 15 to 20 fulltime employees at Seresin dabble in a bit of everything, so that when asked what his job title is, Sean is a little stumped.

"I suppose I'm a gardener," he smiles. "Just a gardener for 160 hectares of land."

Of these, 113 are in vines – around 50 per cent sauvignon blanc, 25 per cent pinot noir and the rest a mix of other varieties.

They have 7000 olive trees, a small orchard, "reasonable sized" vegetable gardens and a few animals.

But Sean's main job is to make the liquid gold of the estate – the compost tea.

It's comprised of "vermie" – liquid run-off from organic matter in a worm farm – and a specially rotted mix of cow manure made with basalt rock dust and egg shells.

"Making compost is serious business for us," says Sean. "Everything that goes into it is sourced here.

"It's a very important part of our operation and it's hard to place a value on it. We place a very high value on it."

Sean says anyone interested in biodynamics should visit the Biodynamics Association of New Zealand website biodynamic.org.nz.