Compost – agricultural upcycling

As some of our vines are located on quite barren grounds, sometimes it is necessary to give them some more energy. We do exactly this when we give the vines organic manure = compost. But there are also other advantages of it, for example the soil organisms is activated more intense, there is less erosion and the conditions from temperature, moisture and air in the soil is more balanced.

In Latin compost is called “compositum”, which means “The Compound”. Because compost consists of several items, for example manure of animals, hay, garden and kitchen waste, grape remains etc. They are all mixed together and stay outside on one pile for months or years. This needs to be turned a few times, that the rotting process is within the whole material. At the beginning it smells intense like animal manure, but you will not recognize it at the end. Then the dark brown compost scents like fresh earth and provides energy to the ground.

As we don`t have our own animals, we get the highland kettle manure from a local winemaker. The kettles enjoy around 100m from the winery their best life. When the compost is completely changed, it is ready to go to the vineyards. We spread out the compost with a special trailer in our vineyards and then we work it even deeper into the ground, that the soil can feel the fresh and new energy even better. And this is how we help our vines to develop and produce beautiful grapes.