Last week we indulged in one of the true pleasures of this business: standing in a field, digging holes, looking at soil.
Seizing the opportunity of having Michael Voelker (2Naturkinder, Germany) visiting the UK in Spring when the weather might just be appropriate for standing in a field, we decided the best place to spend a Monday afternoon with him was in the vineyards of his former assistant winemaker, and our mutual friend Sophie Evans.
Twin-fanatics in soil health and caring for - and with - plants, it was a joy to take a friendly group down to Kent to learn firsthand the benefits gained from the level of care and detail Sophie & Michael pour into their farming.
Sophie credits her time in Germany working alongside Melanie & Michael as the biggest eye-opener to the impact soil health has on fermentations and wine quality. Working across so many different sites with similar varieties was key to observing how the vineyard's health has a direct consequence in the winery.
It was lovely to listen to Michael discussing with Sophie her approach to farming, where they align and differ. We hopped over the fence to an adjacent conventionally farmed field to dig up an example of lifeless soil, to compare with a fresh sample of Sophie's living soil, an immediate contrast between the two.
There's A World Going On Underground
There are few people better suited to discussing soil-health than Michael. Endlessly curious, enthusiastic and experimental, his journey in organic farming and understanding the importance of soil has so far been a 10-year-long adventure in literally getting your hands dirty, and following your nose.
Digging up the conventional field, Michael discussed what one is looking for when they observe, smell (and in his instance, taste) soil:
"Essentially really bad soil smells like a couple of wet towels that have been left in a corner - damp, mouldy. If you have this: the soil isn't working there. Compared with Sophie's , which is very, very herbaceous. As we're observing soil we look for colour differences, darker soils means more humus - nutrient dense, nitrogen rich organic matter - plant roots, to loosen it up, create airways for aerobic bacteria, happy earthworms - this is what healthy soil looks like!"
"Sophie's soils are essentially meadow soils, grasslands, and you're then eventually working towards getting something closer to a woodland soil, rich in fungi and mycorrhizae."
Having worked no-till since 2016, and experimenting with biodynamic treatments in 2021, Michael's organic approach has long-since become very holistic and attentive, swapping biodynamic preps for compost teas (much more effective at increasing microbial growth in his opinion than BD500) and "Effective Microorganisms" (EM encourage a healthy rot in the cover crops, rather than mowing) - dramatically increasing soil health and diversity.
With lots of grass and companion plants growing, these create an airflow in the soil: each blade acts as a channel. Stopping working the soil hugely reduces that soil temperature, and helps maintain much more of your water; there's much less evaporation.
Primarily, it's all about microbes in the soil. A good root system needs to be established and protected. In recent years, so many growers have realised it's not just soil, it's like the Amazon Rainforest down there: there's so much happening underground. If it's not happening effectively, it can't sufficiently feed the vine. The key is to encourage aerobic bacteria and funghi in the soil. There's a huge difference between aerobic and anaerobic (no-oxygen) microorganisms. To put it simply, aerobic bacteria are the good guys, anaerobic bacteria are really the breeding ground of disease for the plants.
Compost tea is the secret weapon for Michael, manually pumped full of air, it begins to ferment like crazy, the temperature rockets up, and you're brewing microorganisms. That gets sprayed everywhere for a very high population of aerobic fungi, bacteria, and microorganisms. Michael will spray twice a year, though last year only needed to spray once.
For Sophie, having only taken over the vines in 2022, her focus has been one of observation: leaving things to grow and observing what the land needs, using visual signifiers from the earth and the emerging plants to see where rows are lacking in nitrogen, and where others have a surplus. Alongside all manner of homeopathic, herbal treatments, nettle tea has been a often used tool in her arsenal over the last couple of years: its handy that her vineyards are absolutely rife with the plant for easy access!.
Both Michael & Sophie, have been able to observe firsthand the impact this work in their soils has had on fermentations. Michael recalls the parcel for Heimat Silvaner as a particularly clear example:
"We’d almost given up on the plot for Heimat. It's a tiny piece of land, and the most work-intense vineyard we have. The wine always struggled. But after six years of compost, compost tea and effective microorganisms, we have received a mind-blowing wine from the Heimat Silvaner hill this year in 2022. Honestly, it’s all about soil."
Alongside a lunch of baked potatoes (cooked in the ground), Sophie & Michael guided us through the wines, including many of the 2Naturkinder vintages that Sophie had a hand in making. Melanie & Michael's wines are so invigorating to drink at this time of year, lending themselves particularly well to the dishes of the season (Silvaner loves asparagus) and to taste multiple vintages of single vineyard wines and observe their evolution is a true privilege.
We are so pleased to have available the following wines from Melanie & Michael, some only in tiny quantities, so please don't hesitate if you're interested in taking any!
2NATURKINDER - MELANIE & MICHAEL VOELKER
AVAILABLE NOW
SPARKLING
2021 - Bat Nat - Pinot Meunier - LIMITED
RED
2021 - Black Betty - Domina, Regent
2021 - Fledermaus Rot - Pinot Meunier
2020 - Fledermaus Rot - Pinot Meunier - LIMITED
WHITE / SKINS
2021 - Fledermaus Weiss - Muller Thurgau, Silvaner, Riesling
2020 - Weinschwärmer - Pinot Gris, Riesling - LIMITED
2020 - Kleine Heimat Silvaner - Silvaner
2019 - Heimat Silvaner - Silvaner - LIMITED
2018 - Heimat Silvaner - Silvaner - LIMITED
2019 - Wilde Heimat - Silvaner
2018 - Wilde Heimat - Silvaner
