A multi-million dollar initiative could see Marlborough wineries transform more than 3,500 tonnes of lees waste into a nutrient-rich product to enhance soil in their vineyards. Sarah Neish speaks to one of the brains behind the idea.
Thousands of tonnes of Marlborough lees could be transformed into a soil-enrichment treatment for vineyards through a new programme led by Bragato Research Institute (BRI).
The Marlborough Circular Wine Programme will see lees (the sediment left over from the winemaking process) collected from participating wineries, and combined with beneficial materials including compost, marine waste and biochar to produce a product that can be spread underneath vines to return organic matter and nutrients to vineyard soils.
The plan offers a solution to a widely-felt problem: the large volumes of lees produced over a relatively short winemaking period during and after vintage are expensive for wineries to get rid of. Disposing of them also puts pressure on regional wastewater and waste-management services, which are faced with potentially hundreds of wine producers all presenting their lees waste at landfill at roughly the same time. Currently, wineries pay a ...