VidaCycle Regenerative Viticulture Series #3: Mimi Casteel in conversation with Abby Rose

New conversations with brilliant viticulturists, to discuss regenerative experiments on the vines – successes, failures & learnings along the way.

The first conversation of the new season is with Mimi Casteel, one of the trustees of the RVF. Mimi grew up working on the vineyard and winery of her parents, Bethel Heights, before studying forest science & working as a botanist and ecologist for the US Forest Service. This has given her a broad ecosystem perspective when working with viticulture. Mimi’s experiments in vine growing are rooted in creating beautifully regenerative, biodiverse & resilient ecosystems with the vines.

August 30th, 2023
Watch it here

Articles that may be of interest

Six inches of soil

Inspiring story of British farmers standing up against the industrial food systems and transforming the way they produce food

Quantifying soil carbon sequestration from regenerative agriculture practices in crops and vineyards

Review of 345 soil carbon sequestration measures across seven regen practices: agroforestry, cover cropping, legume cover cropping, animal integration, non-chemical fertiliser, non-chemical pest management and no tillage.

All practices increased carbon sequestration rate. Combining the practices may further enhance soil carbon sequestration

Smart selection of soil microbes for resilient and sustainable viticulture

Study to look into transplanting microbes from vines from hot, dry climates as a potential to improve vines’ resilience to drought

March newsletter

Resources on vitiforestry, disease-resistant varieties, under-vine living mulches, cover crops and much more

Six Inches of Soil

Six inches of soil the film and companion book is the inspiring story of British farmers standing up to the industrial food syste

Nature-based strategies to regenerate the functioning and biodiversity of vineyards

Raul Ochoa-Hueso et al 2023 Overview of nature-based management strategies that may be used for the regeneration of the functioning and biodiversity of vineyards and that may also lead to improved plant nutrition, grape berry quality and the suppression of pathogens and pests. Focus on microbial and nonmicrobial biostimulants, fertilisation with organic amendments, foliar fertilisation […]

Kiss the Ground documentary

The original 2020 Netflix documentary narrated by Woody Harrelson that unpacks how soil is key to combating climate change

Grower Q&A: Dudley Brown of Inkwell Wine

Regenerative Viticulture Q&A with Dudley Brown of Inkwell Wine, Australia’s first regeneratively certified vineyard

Mycorrhizal mycelium as a global carbon pool

A fascinating review into mycorrhizal fungi, including descriptions of the different functional types and how they contribute to global soil carbon pools. Conservative estimate that they fix approximately 36% of current annual CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. It is definitely worth setting time aside to read. Much of the language is accessible to non-scientists.