Draytons Case Study
Nature of the economic enterprise Vultures or grape growing Is an agricultural activity, which has specific requirements for soil, sunshine, rainfall and warmth located In rural areas. Primary production- draws on raw materials around area grape growing and winemaking regarded as single agricultural activity Labor intensive- when spraying vines every 8-10 days 10-12 times in the cycle.
Pruning vines, picking seasonal + Hand pickers working 7-10 hours a day pulling out 12-14 Tone a day with average around 450 Tone however last year only 205 Tone.
Mostly handpicked because mechanical cannot get in small rows. Long term breakable- 10 years to break even on vineyard and 20 years on winery can be used as a tax haven’ but also mostly family owned big business can’t see benefit In Technologically sophisticated moving towards mechanical such as pickers however mostly retained traditional ways but also using science including using a hydrometer to measure alcohol content and monitoring different factors including fermentation.
Climate and atmosphere mild Mediterranean winters rainfall in early summer but to very much -soil is alluvial which in is the flat land and where the white wine varietals are planted , the more clay based soil on the hill Is where the red varietals are grown solo Isn’t very fertile but grapes don’t mind this quality over quantity – aspect bull paddock where we were vines located on north south run with them being planted on a contour but Ideally vines would be planted east-west so that grapes don’t get ‘sunburn’ in afternoon sun. Water availability heaps of water availability 2 megalith dam on site lots of water storage also in a scheme with km f pipes from hunter valley called private irrigation directive (P. I.
D) so that they are insured against mother nature water is expensive though $450 dollars per megalith compared to $20 on their Griffith property due to paying for infrastructure costs of pipeline.
Dragoon’s family wines set up on present site due to land grant – economic -coloratura factors part of big hunter valley area of wine lots of tourism technological- not having to abide by all the old world rules part of new world and really lax rules using stainless steel vats and refrigeration political factors not really evident Dragoons impact on environment, are mostly negative they have stripped away all native vegetation and land clearing to put in vines cultivation of earth between rows of vines to improve water infiltration with the removal of vegetation means loss of biodiversity and destruction of the natural ecosystems, the irrigation also causes erosion in the fields and colonization. The pesticides they use include roundup (systematic destroys the roots) and spray seed which causes cancer and very toxic also use of ‘typed’ to control vine moth caterpillar and sulfur which can seep into the eater table and can be toxic. Environmental impacts on dragoons- climate affects the vines as a headwater can burn the grapes where skin is broken and If followed by rainfall can ruin them and become rotten, however if dry season rain towards end swell up lowers sugar level and split up and bust open. Hailstorms when grapes are bunching can be disastrous for vintage.
Moderate weather is essential for grape growing.
Soils- the alluvial soils on the flats are beneficial for growing white wines while the clay based soils on hills are better suited for red wines not very fertile but ideal for grape rowing no fermentation at dragoons. Greg Dragoon ‘ pinch the vine up red on poorer soils no fertilizer not much water, struggled better flavor and lots of color particularly important in hunter region. Aspect – east west aspect ideal for grapes reduces sunburn from afternoon sun instead of south north Water- lost of water present around dams on site most water comes from rainfall but also backed up by (P. I. D) scheme Upton 100 megaliths.
Pests- many pests however phylactery isn’t present in hunter valley however in case it does 30% of vines are phylactery resistant. Vine soak about 20 organisms suck sap UT of vines exude sugary substance which ants are attracted to which is a symbiotic relationship. Rabbits- like young vine shoots use cardboard cartoons to protect against this. Ecological Sustainability-all waste products I. E grape seeds and skins from whites and reds can be used as compost and reapplied into the vineyard or used for feed of cattle which is a very sustainable practice reusing all the wastes Also using the waste water from winery back to irrigate fields. However one liter of wine takes ten liters of water to produce.
Which is not very sustainable practice’s though.
Goods- grapes are put through a process from vine to bottle including -pruning slow grapes from growing in winter -ripening where grapes grow and get their flavor and desired characteristics such as color -picking mostly by hand -grapes are put into large baskets and then crushed -separated from seeds and skin and stems in white wine then placed into vats to ferment for 7-10 days red wine use skins to get color fermented in vats 7-10 days leased fining using egg whites fish products and taste testing to see if wine is ready for bottling. Bottling- using a 400,000 dollar machine mostly using steeling caps however big export market china still loves corked wine. Ideas- the Dragoon’s business is 5 generations long with 6th generation Sam now in business Greg head of vineyard (viticulturist) still follows mostly traditional ways of doing things and maintain the vines whilst having to communicate with Edgar the chief winemaker as to when he thinks the grapes are best for picking and produce the best wine
