Producing organic wines in the Serranía de Ronda

Architect and winemaker Martin Kieninger was born in Ried, in the north of Austria, but for 26 years he has lived in Ronda with his partner Araceli Guerrero, with whom he shares a passion for wine. His grandparents had an estate full of vines, and he brought 4,000 of them to the mountains of Ronda.

In the foothills of the Sierra de las Cumbres he planted varieties that are rare in this area such as Blaufränkisch or Zweigelt. He has made this land his home and wakes up every morning to a dream come true: not only does he have his vineyards, he also has his own bodega, taking charge of the whole wine making process, from growing the grapes to bottling the finished product.

He is currently growing local native varieties such as Tintilla de Rota and Garnacha Tinta and other French varieties such as Sauvignon, Franc, Merlot, Pinot Noir and the Cabernets. However, what sets Kieninger’s family business apart is that it is an organic winery. This means they work in a very different way to a conventional one, with more precise controls in terms of soil humidity, temperature changes and the treatment of the vineyards themselves, as Kieninger explains to SUR.

“It is important to make a profit and have good production, but we always take care of the soil, groundwater and air; nature is at the forefront of our minds,” he says.

For this winemaker, each process is important when it comes to having an organic winery, but he points out that the greatest weight falls on how the vineyard is cared for. They do not use pesticides, herbicides and insecticides because, according to the expert, “this only pollutes the water and the environment, so we must always look for the most natural ways that do not harm the water, the air or the plant”.

While in a conventional winery it is usual to apply herbicides to the vines, in the eco-winery they cut the weeds two or three times a year with machinery or by hand.

“It’s more work, but we do it so as not to use this poison in the vineyard,” he says.

There is more manual labour in an organic winery, Kieninger explains. An example of this is the treatment of fungi. Instead of using synthetic products, they strengthen the plant with substances such as oils, horsetail slurry, copper or fermented milk.

“This does not penetrate the plant, it protects it above the leaf, so we have to know the fungus much better, as we can work with sulphur to prevent, but not to cure,” says the viticulturist.

Moreover, everything they take out of the vineyard is put back in, whether it be waste from pruning, fermentation or pressing.

“We grind it up and incorporate it back into the soil, while additional nutrition for the plant is provided by planting legumes and cow manure.”

The leafhopper is one of the insects that are a threat to the vines. In order to prevent them damaging the crop, Kieninger has installed several bat nests in all the vineyards in order to keep a good balance, as they “can eat up to 2,000 insects per night”, he says. He did the same with mites, a natural enemy of spiders.

“It is a question of finding a balance so that they eat the larvae, thus preventing plagues,” he points out.

In the winery it is also essential to follow the right steps to meet the criteria for organic produce. In this sense, instead of buying the yeast that ferments better, accelerates the process or is more effective, they use the vineyard’s own yeast.

“Because we work organically, the vineyard is so healthy that it ferments its own yeast perfectly,” he says. They also minimise the use of sulphites, as their bottles contain a maximum of 100 milligrammes per litre, 50 milligrammes less than a conventional wine.

“It is important to take care of all the processes in organic production, whether in the vineyard or in the winery,” he adds. All the work carried out both in the vineyard and in the winery follows the strict criteria of organic agriculture, certified and controlled by the Spanish organic agriculture committee, the CAAE.