Made Kindly Magazine by Zig Zag Rd Wines

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THE RHYTHMS OF ZIG ZAG RD. JULY It’s cold up here, with incredible frosts painting the landscape in bright white on those crispy blue sky mornings. The vines have shed every last leaf, which degrade back into the soil. The first of 7,000 vines is pruned: it.starts by looking like a bedraggled medusa, with a complex set of canes flowing every which way, and we find the strongest and best positioned to provide the fruit for next season. We’re daunted by the task ahead. We pick nettles and hang them to dry. They act as a natural fungicide in the coming spring, and are rich in iron and other nutrition. Food for the microorganisms. We’ll sometimes ‘rip’ the vineyard at this time, before the winter rain comes. Using a no-till yeomans plough, we create a deep rip into the soil without turning it over to allow water infiltration.. All part of natural, regenerative farming. AUGUST The season of water. The winter rains (hopefully) come, and the dams, aquifers, creeks and rivers fill to brimming. The once trickling Back Creek becomes a gushing, flowing, impenetrable water flow with rapids and torrents. We see frog-spawn frothing in the stiller parts of the flows, and the cacophony of frog species grows and grows. The dams at Zig Zag Road are filling, and our tanks overflowing. It brings us joy, and we bask in two showers a day. The tap water tastes clean, fresh and cold. We lie in until 8am, and watch movies at night. The fire is roaring constantly. If we’re adding a fungal dominated compost, we’ll do it now as the earth wakes up. We’ll also be making our own compost for our veggies and gardens. SEPTEMBER Spring springs. Late August and early September is a happy change. The blossom of some of our orchard bursts, and the bright pinks and reds make for a stark and stunning contrast to the dormant trees. It’s an indication of change, of life, and the ensuing abundance that fills us up in the next few months. The sheep are lambing, and beautiful goslings and baby drakes waddle around. Wild flowers appear in the vineyard, as well as cape dandelion and a diversity of perennial and annual grasses. The ‘Pobblebonk’ frog springs into action and they call each other across dams with their ‘bonk’. Pruning continues in earnest and the relaxed rhythm turns into a race against time: if the season is early, we’re caught out with buds that have burst before they’ve been pruned. Something usually gets bogged in September. The forklift, a car, the tractor. Days can be spent shovelling it out. OCTOBER The Ekiem is in flower with brilliant purple and white colours. The thrushes are back and move into the hollow of the tree next to the house. Birdsong is abundant and beautiful, and the bees are busy. The buds burst and the season officially begins. Little strips of green in neat lines paint the vineyard landscape. And the first sprays of the season of nettle and whey to stimulate the microbiology and protect the new shoots. NOVEMBER The first of the hot days, reminding us how different the stark, dry summer can be from the abundance that has just been. It’s a critical growing time for the vines, as they transform the sun’s energy into sugars. The vines are flowering: one of the most crucial points of the season. The shoots make great progress, and the vineyard quickly turns to a mass of green foliage. Wildlife is still abundant, and our resident koala moves in for the next month or so, grunting day and night to woo the ladies. We’re shoot thinning: a way of taking out the unproductive shoots (or even the productive ones), to allow air flow through the canopy. And we’re spraying organic additions with the aim of feeding and stimulating the fungi and microorganisms, to help them work with the vines, share nutrients and build resistance. DECEMBER The landscape is starting to parch, and the grasses turning yellow. The dry grown vines are now starting to rely on the earlier winter rain. It’s getting hot, and the cockatoos screeching are starting to replace the delicate spring birdsong. The reactive nature of the season continues, and the disease pressure grows. JANUARY Hot and dry. The canes on the vines are long and full of foliage, with well formed berry sets, which are hard and green. It’s a time of sunshine and we’re effectively farming sunlight. 10
The vines will be sharing their captured sugars with the fungi under the ground, and in exchange the fungi will be giving minerals and nutrition back to the plant. This is a particularly important process in the way we’re farming: we don’t use synthetic fertilisers, and instead rely on the biology below ground to support the plants growth and wellbeing. Rather than using chemicals, we spray food for the fungi and microorganisms: molasses; fish kelp; whey; nettle; humates; citrus by products and compost, amongst other things. We’re going through the vineyard and pushing up the canes into the foliage wires to allow the dappled sunlight to hit the berries, and to make sure our organic sprays get good coverage over the foliage. It’s a time friends come to stay and help out with the work. Hard days out in the vines, with beautiful evenings watching the sunset over the vineyard, with a glass of wine. It’s thriving and colourful. APRIL It’s a very beautiful time at the vineyard, with the foliage on the ornamental vine around the cellar door in its full red glory. This is the time when we’ll plant a cover crop in the mid rows, as part of our regenerative practice. We’ll bring in the sheep (and in the future ducks and geese), and intensively graze them in accordance with regenerative practises - using cells to move them through the vineyard like herd animals. They’ll gobble up the grasses and weeds, trample down the organic matter so it touches the soil, and poop out natural fertiliser for the bugs and microbes. Wine making continues. The wines will be going through their process of fermentation, and we’re constantly tasting and analysing. FEBRUARY Hot and dry. Similar processes as January, but now the berries are going through veraison (green, hard and sour, to purple, soft and sweet) and the birds will be circling It’s a time of nets!! This is a big, fun, job. Before the berries turn purple, we haul huge nets over the rows of vines. We clip up the holes and put out the bird scarer. We sit with our breakfast every morning, peering at the crows, galahs, cockatoos, silver eyes, and other birds working out how to pilfer our livelihood. We’re constantly walking the vineyard to check ripeness of the grapes, estimating the harvest, and pulling back down the nets that have blown over in the summer winds (including huge willy willy’s). We can feel harvest around the corner. Preparations afoot. The winery is being reorganised, putting the bottled wine into cool storage, and making space for the equipment we need. MAY The Macedon Ranges is in one of its most beautiful seasons, with the leaves turned and falling, and often still, warm days and chilli nights. We’ll start looking at the fireplace. We’re finishing off the wine making, and starting the process of cleaning up after the season. Nets in, winery cleaned, fences and foliage wires fixed. We’re tasting and drinking the wine, topping up barrels, and starting to plan for the bottling of the white wines. Wood will be chopped from the paddocks, and red gum brought in. The pace is starting to slow a little, and hikes, coffees, and friendships abound. MARCH The waiting game. We need sunshine and not much rain, to ripen the berries. They’re all red now and the sugars, flavours and tannins are developing. It’s at this time of year when the birds are at fever pitch, desperate to eat the juicy berries. JUNE The wine is made, and the temperature is falling. The vineyard is resting. And so are we. Vintage starts. We’re constantly analysing the grapes to check for ripeness: how do they taste (generally, if they taste good, the wine will be good)? What is their sugar content? (measured in brix or baume)? What is their acid content (measured with a ph reader)? Lots of heaving, and forklifts, and early mornings. Stress and joy. Equipment breaking and quick solutions found. Every wrong step can ruin the whole year’s work, and a lot is at stake. The ferments start naturally, which means there’s a nail biting 3 or 4 days waiting for the indigenous yeasts to start their work. If it takes longer, the grapes can spoil. Our hands (and sometimes feet) are bright red, no matter how much we wash. The energy is frenetic, but it’s a rich, alive time. We sometimes take the nets off late at night, when the birds are asleep, under the bright moon and a billion stars. The beauty can slap you to tears. 11
Page 1 and 2: MADE KINDLY IT TAKES A VILLAGE THE
Page 3 and 4: Kindly illustrated by Kirsty Moeger
Page 5 and 6: NEW ROSE We’re launching our new
Page 7 and 8: FOLK MATILDA F (AND CARLENA AND DAM
Page 9: ADELE AND BERNIE We outgrew our bea

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