Natural selections

Ditching single-use plastic, going vegan and flying less aren’t the only ways to lead a more eco-conscious lifestyle. ALEXANDRA CARLTON discovers some other changes to help reduce your own carbon footprint.

- ALEXANDRA CARLTON

DRINK

DROUGHT-TO LERANT WINE

South Australian wine company Unico Zelo has a radical approach to grape-growing: where possible, they give their vines only minimal water. “We’re oddballs,” says co-owner Brendan Carter of their place in an industry that uses 440 billion litres of water for irrigation in Australia each year. But Carter’s reasoning is anything but odd. We live on a dry continent, so we should be growing grapes that can tolerate dry conditions. “If a plant can’t survive on the water that nature naturally brings to it, then technically it shouldn’t be there,” says Carter. The company’s signature, single-vineyard wines are made from drought-hardy grapes, fiano and nero d’Avola, grown in the Clare Valley, Riverland, and Adelaide Hills regions of South Australia. Taking into account Adelaide’s drought conditions, he estimates that these lesser-known varieties use as little as one or two megalitres per hectare for irrigation, compared to the 10 or so megalitres commonly used on other vineyards.

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