Brokenwood Winery Turns Grape Waste into Compost, Wins Prestigious Award

As shrivelling demand for wine forces winemakers to make the difficult decision not to harvest their crops, one winery is not letting a single grape go to waste.

Brokenwood winery in the New South Wales Hunter Valley has been turning grape waste into "vineyard gold" by turning the stems, skins and seeds into compost that is then used to fertilise its vines.

It's one of the sustainability practices employed by the vineyard which led to the Royal Agricultural society awarding the business its most prestigious award, the President's Medal.

Chief winemaker at Brokenwood Stuart Hordern said he was "incredibly proud" of the achievement at a difficult time for the industry.

"It's been a tough five-10 years in the wine industry," he said.

"It helps the belief of all the guys and girls that work here, knowing that what they're striving towards is making a big difference."

Declining demand for wine at home and abroad has led to a stockpile of unsold wine and a glut of unharvested grapes that has seen some farmers remove vines entirely.

Mr Hordern said making small improvements to winemaking practices can help create a better future for the industry.

"Number one, hang in there. Rome wasn't built in a day," he said.

"It's a slow burn, all of the changes we've made over the last decade. It wasn't done in one year.

Focus on sustainability

What began as a small hobby operation in the 1970s has grown into a large winery producing 90,000 cases a year.

Mr Hordern said the company was a long-term member of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia, a national program developed by the wine industry.

He said improving soil health was a key priority for the business and could involve testing and moisture probes, as well as mid-cover cropping and applying sunscreen to leaves to protect the crop.

"A big driver in the vineyard has been soil health over the last decade," Mr Hordern said.

"We purchased an additional vineyard that was in relatively run-down condition six years ago.

He said the winery made 70 per cent of its bottles using lightweight glass to reduce emissions.

Judge Simon Marnie, who conducted the on-site visit alongside fellow judge Kate Lorimer-Ward, said the February inspection showed a business that was now an industry leader.

Ms Lorimer-Ward said what set Brokenwood apart was that sustainability was not a marketing position — it was structural.

"Sustainability is more than a buzzword at Brokenwood," she said in a statement.

"To them it is about looking after people and communities, protecting the land that the wines come from, and running a business that can stay strong for the long haul."

The President's Medal is not based on taste or presentation. Judges assess environmental practices, financial health, community investment, governance, resilience and industry leadership.

This year's finalists included Mandole Orchard, Marionette, Norco Co-Operative Limited, Stockyard Beef, and the Yoghurt Shop.