The word 'Organic' can conjure up all sorts of reactions and opinions, and mental images of its proponents and the land on which the properties dwell.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Hippies wondering around unkempt small-holdings with small yields and ordinary looking produce is probably one of the most common ones.
Not so for the team behind the latest cellar door to open in Millthorpe.
There's no kombucha at Tamburlaine Wines on Pym Street, but there are a fine range of organically produce wines.
"I'm a big believer in contemporary organics,' said the managing director Mark Davidson.
"It's all about really understanding what we already know about the web of life, the ecosystem that we farm in and knowing when to intervene when necessary, without upsetting the whole balance of nature."
For 13 years Mr Davidson followed the conventional wisdom of chemical farming on his vineyards, but the transition to organics didn't happen overnight, in fact, it took years.
"Over that time I was following whatever was prescribed and making some assessments myself in terms of the effectiveness, the cost, and the difficulties in using these products safely," he said.
"There was no epiphanous moment. It took about five years because I had to build a business that was both financially and philosophically sound without any mentors as growing grapes organically was not at all common in the late 1990's."
They won't say it out loud, but they're looking.
- Mark Davidson
Organic farming also brings up images of old tractors powered by homemade bio-diesel, for the Tamburlaine crew though, technology is one of their most favoured tools.
Plans are in play to trial solar powered sheep, otherwise known as solar powered lawn mowers, that will keep down the growth between the rows of vines.
The group already trialled the use of a small remote-controlled Yamaha helicopter in 2016.
"Technology will allow us to use specified treatments for certain problems that may exist in only one part of the vineyard," he said.
"Conventional farming calls for a widespread spraying regime across the entire vineyard."
Mr Davidson said that behind the scenes he believes many growers in the central west are beginning to investigate some aspects of organic growing.
"They won't say it out loud, but they're looking."
Mark Logan
Started working in newspapers in the 1990's in the darkroom of the Pastoral Times in Deniliquin before moving to Millthorpe in 2003. Soon after arriving I started as a photographer at the CWD. Now a journalist at the Blayney Chronicle.
Started working in newspapers in the 1990's in the darkroom of the Pastoral Times in Deniliquin before moving to Millthorpe in 2003. Soon after arriving I started as a photographer at the CWD. Now a journalist at the Blayney Chronicle.
