Soil health is a key principle of our sustainable ethos

Situated on the North Downs in Kent, the Whitewolfe vineyard is made up of five variations of clay loam with a chalk subsoil that increases in depth as the slopes descend. Chalk, a type of limestone, is a porous sedimentary rock that has excellent drainage while retaining sufficient moisture for nourishment. Being alkaline, the soil pH is high, which increases the grape’s natural acidity and typically leads to bright, age-worthy wines. As a result, it is very well suited to Chardonnay.

Flint is also a key component to the Whitewolfe soil profile, aiding ripening by absorbing daytime heat and re-radiating the warmth at night. However, flinty chalk soils are not the easiest to work with as they are often shallow, and the availability of key nutrients can be affected by the high pH. This makes vineyard floor management and, in particular, soil health a key principle in Whitewolfe’s sustainable ethos.

A robust organic fertiliser program was introduced at Whitewolfe from the very beginning and is now applied at key times of the year to keep an equilibrium nutrient status, providing the vines with the nutrition they require. This has enhanced the organic matter content and microbiology in the soil, enabling a significant reduction in synthetic fertilisers. It has also improved soil texture, creating a more friable soil well suited to mechanical weed control, resulting in no herbicides ever being used. Regular soil testing and field trialling research is fundamental to Whitewolfe’s management and allows us to build on our viticulture knowledge and improve upon our sustainability principles.