Ange: Hi everybody! Welcome to Le Gourmet TV, we’ve got another great episode here focusing on the green aspects of wine. I’m here with Paul De Campo from Henry of Pelham winery and he’s going to tell us a little bit about what makes Henry of Pelham a sustainable grower.
Paul De Campo: Well there is a protocol in Niagara that we belong. It’s the Sustainable Winemaking Ontario and we’ve been leaders and Matthew Speck, the Viticulturist, Ron Giesbrecht the Winemaker, helped devised, it’s basically like a checklist moving everyone towards better practices. So for us, that means using Integrated Pests Managements which really limits our inputs to the winery, into the vineyards, also how we handle our surface water so we send our groundwater cleaner off the property that it arrives on to the property.
The good news about Sustainable Winemaking is that the measures one takes to grow grape sustainably also lead to better quality wine so we do really intensive Canopy Management. I mean we’re out there tucking vines, picking leaves, so we’re opening up the Canopy. For quality, that allows a lot of sunlight on the fruits so we get good optimal ripeness. But in for in terms of sustainability, having an open Canopy really reduces the disease pressures especially mildew pressure which is what we mostly have to contend with an iron grip. So then that will lifts the amount of chemicals that we have to be spraying up there.
Of course, everybody sprays.
Ange: Yes.
Paul De Campo: Most of what we would use for mildew would be allowable under Organic practices as well, things like sulfur, copper sulfate. But then we would use traditiously some synthetics when we felt that is pressure that we needed to really begin on top of, because of course our ultimate responsibility is produce really good and quality wine.
Ange: And we’re drinking a fabulous Reason Reserve here, Henry of Pelham, and I mean, may be you can tell there are myths sort of that you have about Organic growing that it cause more, may be you could elaborate a little bit more on how that is untrue, obviously meant.
Paul De Campo: Yes. I think that’s a really good point. Being out there and especially using the minor technology, we’re out there testing the temperatures and the humidity levels. We can really learn when there’s about to be pressure and we can intervene very precisely rather than being out there on a two-week schedule and spraying X. So that does save us some money as well. Saves us some money and some inputs and it saves us labor. More importantly as well, it saves us soil compact because we’re running our tractors that much less through the vineyards.
Ange: So you’re running Sir Henry of Pelham at a organic level and you’re very proud to be at that level aren’t you?
Paul De Campo: Definitely. It’s about stewardship ultimately, the Speck family trees, they’re family history back in the 1700’s on this piece of land, they feel really tied to this land and also it’s a family business. This is not run for portable profits, this is run by the porter century and by the generations so you know they want to hand over this property to their children and that’s in a healthy way as well.
Ange: I know that you guys have some really great stuffs coming on that sort of in that level such as the Dirty Hands Project.
Paul De Campo: Certainly.
Ange: Keeping it sort of from that agricultural movement and saying, “This is who we are, come and experience our winery and experience our wine with us.”
Paul De Campo: Very much. I think it’s really important to remind people that, that wine is an agricultural product. We see these pretty packages in the store, but it’s the result of hard, blood, sweat and tears that were out in the vineyards to produce good quality wine.
Ange: Well I hope everyone enjoys a nice Henry of Pelham Reason Reserve this summer and thank you for taking the time.
Paul De Campo: My pleasure. Cheers!
Ange: Let’s go green.
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