West Wales vineyard receives prestigious certificate as first in the UK
4th August 2024
Hebron Vineyard, located in West Wales, became the first UK vineyard awarded with a regenerative certification.
The recognition, granted by A Greener World, is a whole-farm assurance of regeneration and sustainability.
The Certified Regenerative measures benefits for soil, water, air, biodiversity, infrastructure, animal welfare, and social responsibility, giving farmers, consumers, and buyers confidence in reliability and impact.
Nestled beneath the Preseli Hills in West Wales, Jemma Vickers and Paul Rolt established and planted Hebron Vineyard in 2010, after spending nine years converting an established vineyard into an award-winning, non-intervention organic vineyard in Andalucia, Spain.
Hebron Vineyard produces natural wines of Wales, as well as offering holiday accommodation and tours, tasting and tapas events.
The owners said that by using regenerative viticulture and agroforestry practices, they manage the vineyard without artificial insecticides, herbicides, fungicides or fertiliser, focusing instead on working in harmony with the local ecosystem, nurturing and protecting the soil’s health.
Meeting initial rigorous sustainability standards
Hebron Vineyard has the UK’s only commercial arbustrum, an innovation on the Roman art of arbusta.
This means growing vines through a living willow trellis, a zero-carbon footprint support that yields health benefits for the vines. All of the vines are maintained by hand, from prune to training to harvest, the owners explained.
Certified Regenerative by AGW ensures that farms are meeting initial rigorous sustainability standards, but also continually improving.
Recognising every farm is a unique part of an ecosystem, the core of Certified Regenerative by AGW is a farm-specific, steward-led Regenerative Plan where producers assess risks, set goals, and track progress toward their own meaningful milestones with support from qualified experts in agronomy, biodiversity, water quality, and other fields.
Plans are reviewed, approved, and then audited on an ongoing basis by A Greener World, offering farmers and consumers a third-party source of accountability for each farm’s regenerative progress.
Benchmark of good regenerative practice
Jemma Vickers said: “At Hebron Vineyard, our goal is a natural wine of Wales with zero intervention in the vineyard and with zero intervention in the winery. Our Certified Regenerative by AGW logo means a great deal to us, both as custodians of the land and as a business.
“Our wines are the result of a natural fermentation, spontaneously created by the yeasts picked up by the grapes in the vineyard. No sulphur washes, no added sugar or any of the 60 other additions that a modern wine can have in it and not to be found listed on the label.
“It’s about farming well and honouring the land by promoting healthy soils and biodiversity to create and enhance a lively ecosystem. Our AGW certification means that we have reached a benchmark of good regenerative practice. From here, we push onwards with our regenerative journey.”
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