Inkwell — McLaren Vale, South Australia, and genuinely the real deal when it comes to regenerative farming done properly, not just talked about. Dudley Brown and Dr Irina Santiago-Brown bought the shiraz-heavy vineyard back in 2004, rejuvenated it, replanted it, and have spent two decades pushing it further — Irina's own doctoral thesis on sustainability basically became the blueprint for where the estate was headed.
In 2023 Inkwell became Australia's first Regenerative Organic Certified vineyard, joining a tiny club of maybe twenty growers worldwide doing this at that level. That's not a marketing tick box, that's measurable soil carbon sequestration, properly improved soil and plant health, the whole deal. Twelve hectares on prized Pirramimma Sandstone and Ngaltinga geology, farmed hand-picked with a strict no-additions approach across fifteen-plus vintages.
Shiraz, Primitivo, Grenache, Mataro and Viognier anchor the range, now joined by Grillo and Arinto for something a bit different. Alternative vessels, proper judicious skin contact on the whites, fortified wines too — this is a genuinely adventurous, thoughtful portfolio, not a one-trick regional shiraz play. Tasting room's even built from twenty recycled shipping containers, solar and rainwater powered. Walking the talk, literally bottle by bottle.
McLaren Vale's leading the charge on regenerative viticulture, and Inkwell's right out front of that pack.
Inkwell — McLaren Vale, South Australia, and genuinely the real deal when it comes to regenerative farming done properly, not just talked about. Dudley Brown and Dr Irina Santiago-Brown bought the shiraz-heavy vineyard back in 2004, rejuvenated it, replanted it, and have spent two decades pushing it further — Irina's own doctoral thesis on sustainability basically became the blueprint for where the estate was headed.
In 2023 Inkwell became Australia's first Regenerative Organic Certified vineyard, joining a tiny club of maybe twenty growers worldwide doing this at that level. That's not a marketing tick box, that's measurable soil carbon sequestration, properly improved soil and plant health, the whole deal. Twelve hectares on prized Pirramimma Sandstone and Ngaltinga geology, farmed hand-picked with a strict no-additions approach across fifteen-plus vintages.
Shiraz, Primitivo, Grenache, Mataro and Viognier anchor the range, now joined by Grillo and Arinto for something a bit different. Alternative vessels, proper judicious skin contact on the whites, fortified wines too — this is a genuinely adventurous, thoughtful portfolio, not a one-trick regional shiraz play. Tasting room's even built from twenty recycled shipping containers, solar and rainwater powered. Walking the talk, literally bottle by bottle.
McLaren Vale's leading the charge on regenerative viticulture, and Inkwell's right out front of that pack.
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