It's our duty of care to look after the land

But this winter, when he sent soil samples from Pyramid Valley’s Mānatu vineyard in Lowburn to Hill Labs, to test for nutrient, pH, and organic matter, he also ticked a new box for an environmental DNA earthworm count, curious to test the new technology.

The results were so high that he called the lab to check there hadn’t been an error, but was told triplicate tests showed the same extraordinary result.

“It’s a reassurance that we’re on the right track,” says Nick, whose obsession with healthy vineyard soils saw him join the “Soil your Undies” trials a few years back, burying underwear under different under row treatments to see which were most destroyed by active and healthy soils.

Nick – who is National Viticulturist for Aotearoa New Zealand Fine Wine Estates, Deputy Chair of Organic Winegrowers New Zealand, and recently appointed as the OWNZ representative on New Zealand Winegrowers’ Environment Committee – says protecting and improving soil is about creating better wines. But sustainability in wine is also fundamental to the industry’s social licence.

“That how we farm, how we grow grapes, is going to leave the vineyard in a better place when we started… It’s our duty of care to look after the land.”