Soil Conservation

Soil improvements are made by natural methods such as mulch additions and composted manure – nature’s own fertiliser. Our mid rows are sown to a diverse natural sward including, native grasses, rye grass, clover and legumes that much into the soil and improve nitrogen.

Minimal Input Farming – Organic Approach

We work with compost and mulches and run sheep in the vineyard during winter to graze. Healthy, stronger vines withstand heat and pest pressures resulting in balanced fruit with minimal inputs.

Wildlife Corridor and Water Catchment

Our vineyards lie in the Onkaparinga Valley, South Australia with the Onkaparinga River (known as Ngangkiparri or Ngangkiparingga in the Kaurna language) running through the centre of our property. In a high rainfall, cool climate zone this river system is responsible for up to 60% of Adelaide’s drinking water. In association with the Onkaparinga River catchment the past 8 years has seen the continued removal of exotic trees and weeds. Re-vegetation undertaken has included native species, particularly the local River Red Gums and sandalwood with some trees on the property being up to 300 years old. The corridor links up with other revegetated areas and the community as a whole works to revegetate along the river all the way to the headwaters.

Tomich Wines have successfully planted 2000 trees along the river every year over the last 3 years. Under three designated areas we have ensured the retention of our old grown gum trees, which are not grazed. This adds 15 acres of a sustainable wildlife corridor which regularly sees kangaroo and deer grazing. This is a fundamental part of our river reclamation environmental plans.

Biodiversity

Tomich Wines encourages biodiversity by allowing a multitude of flora and fauna to thrive in our vineyards providing wildlife habitat and encouraging residency, in addition to cover crops. The property has been carefully designed taking into consideration the existing landscape which is protective of our ‘old river red gums’, maintaining biodiversity within the vineyard.

Water Quality & Conservation

In addition to the use of variable frequency drive pumps, which control water and energy usage, our conservation techniques have benefited from our ongoing mid row ripping, water harvesting and mulching strategies. Moisture probes allow us to fine tune the water usage with significant savings to the environment.

Carbon Footprint

The Tomich family and Soilworks Australia has been developing and managing Eucalyptus forests near Coonawarra, SA since 1998. The carbon credits from 200 acres of mature eucalypts in the Hundred of Coles, next to Coonawarra are dedicated to offsetting Tomich Wines carbon emissions. Running sheep as organic ‘lawn mowers’ multi function tractor passes reduce our fuel usage by up to 30%.