portrait of a biodynamic farm: bress winery
located in harcourt, victoria, AUS, this is anything but your typical winery. and owner/manager adam bress is anything but your typical farmer.
i contacted adam marks at bress winery after learning of him through a friend of a friend. he was extremely welcoming and excited to have me and my friend as visitors at the farm for two days. since he already had friends staying with him from out of town, he promised to reserve a room for us at a nearby b&b. after a quick tour of the farm, a fast paced introduction to the winery business and biodynamic farming methods commenced.
the farm is absolutely stunning. adam and his family live on the property in a beautiful home with a fabulous garden. it is clear at first glance that the family takes care to use plants which require little water, a scarce resource in australia, and a big source of contention among gardeners as most places in AUS have strict rules about residential water consumption.
adjacent to their home is a large scale kitchen garden with herbs and vegetables which are used for the wine and the food served to guests as well as for the family. at bress, nothing is wasted, so the kitchen scraps and dead plant matter are composted as is all farm waste- including that from the white leg-horned chickens, for which the farm is named!
after two days of listening to adam speak on biodynamics, winemaking, australian politics, weather and business management, sharing a bottle of wine with him and being treated to everything a guest possibly could ask for, i knew i had made a lifelong friend. a generous, lively and oftentimes shocking peron, adam was a great farming teacher.
more to come on the lessons learned from adam.
