Family owned and managed Gemtree Wines was officially classified as certified biodynamic this month following almost a decade of implementing biodynamic farming practices, making them one of the only family run Australian wineries with this accreditation.
Gemtree Wines is an international leader in wine making having won a staggering amount of awards over their 35 year history, including 20 Gold Medals awarded in 2015 alone. They most recently took home 4 Gold Medal Wins at the prestigious NZ International Wine Show for their 2013 and 2014 selected Shiraz range. This year they also celebrate receiving a 5 star rating for the 6th year in a row by James Halliday.
‘It’s good to see that our love for sustainable winemaking is cherished and awarded by international juries as well as national critics and wine lovers!’ expresses Mike Brown, Chief Winemaker and Managing Director of the estate.
Gemtree wineries first transitioned into biodynamic farming in 2007 through a pragmatic approach.
‘The biodynamic systems had to work in with our vineyard, so we couldn’t just throw the baby out with the bath water and just all of a sudden change every single regime’ says Melissa Brown, Biodynamic Viticulturist for Gemtree, ‘We started slowly and now after several years we can see a noticeable difference in the health of our vineyard and quality of our fruit’.
‘This style of farming ultimately produces better quality wines. By adhering to the biodynamic calendar we pick and process our fruit and bottle our wines at optimum conditions meaning our consumers are getting the purest and best possible quality wine’ continues Melissa Brown.
The McLaren Vale based vineyard prides itself on a whole-hearted approach setting new standards for sustainable, generational farming and the certification of being biodynamic has been an incredible achievement for the Brown and Buttery families.
‘Here at Gemtree we pride ourselves on being custodians of the land we farm and we are incredibly honoured that our ethos and approach to sustainable farming continues to be commended and acknowledged’, continues Mike Brown.
It was this sustainable farming approach that secured Gemtree as the only winery to take part in the South Australian Premium Food and Wine and Clean Environment Exhibition attended by the Prince of Wales and Duchess or Cornwell last week.
‘We feel privileged to have been selected based on our sustainable practices and it is a milestone for us to be recognised for something we have worked hard at perfecting over the past few years!’ comments Melissa Brown.
‘We have really witnessed an improvement in our soil and health of our vines since we initiated biodynamic and organic farming practices’ says Mike Brown, ‘and I was thrilled to hear that Prince Charles himself couldn’t believe the transformation that he could see in the environment because of the focus on sustainability that we had taken since he was last in Australia.’
Gemtree Wines states that ‘as a family company with a future generation to consider, our business and farming practices must be sustainable. We see it as our responsibility to ensure that what we are doing is improving our land and resources, not denigrating it.’
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