Sustainability at Woodside Hill

Our site has a number of inherent advantages and is one of the key reasons we chose to plant a vineyard here

Carbon Sinks

We have 4 hectares of regenerating native forest on our property giving us a net carbon positive value for the site.

Freshwater Quality

We have a natural 30m plus native forest buffer to ephermeral and permanent waterways. The waterway below the site includes a small wetland.

Waste Processing

Winery waste consists of marc (left over skins and seeds) and fermentation remains (primarily dead yeast). Marc is composted on a flat area on clay soils using the bokashi method together with grape stalks. Clay soils have the advantage of minimal leaching. Our yeast waste is applied to our blueberries. Blueberries like low pH soils and so the acidic nature of the yeast remains is acceptable to these plants. There are about 15 plants, some of which are quite large (1.5m X 2m). The soil below the blueberries is buffered by a fruit orchard which is limed to prevent the pH from getting too low on the downslope side of the blueberries.

Energy Provision

The site has 8 Kwh of solar power installed. The increasing summer temperatures have forced us to install heat-pump based air conditioning into the winery. The cooling is only required during daylight hours. The maximum power comsumption of the air conditioning unit is 5Kwh. So far the site as a whole (including the private residence) is using 55% of generated power over a yearly cycle.