New wine programme turns waste into vineyard resource

Marlborough wineries could soon turn thousands of tonnes of winery lees into a valuable soil resource through a new regional programme led by the Bragato Research Institute. The Marlborough Circular Wine Programme will collect sediment left over from winemaking and process it with compost and biochar into a safe soil amendment, helping wineries cut disposal costs whilst returning nutrients to vineyard soils. Over four years, the scheme aims to divert more than 3,500 tonnes of solid lees from landfill annually and reduce emissions by around 4,700 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.