A respect for biosecurity runs through all operations at Bremerton Wines in Langhorne Creek which was a finalist in Vinehealth Australia’s 2024 Biosecurity Champion Award.
This followed Bremerton being named one of Vinehealth’s six best practice cellar door sites during the Responsible Visitation Campaign (RVC) in 2017/18. Through this program, Bremerton cellar door staff were trained in wine tourism biosecurity language and operations.
This focus protects Bremerton’s 120 hectares of vines, which produce Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc, Verdelho, Chardonnay, Malbec and Petit Verdot grapes for their own wine range and a small number of other wineries.
“Fortunately, we don’t have a very high turnover of staff, so most of our staff did that original RVC training in 2017, which we’ve adjusted to suit our location and situation,” said Lucy Willson, Bremerton General Manager, who runs the business with her sister and Bremerton Winemaker Rebecca Willson.
“There’s been a strong awareness of biosecurity across the business for many years. More recently, Bec has been reviewing our vineyard and winery practices as part of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia certification.”
Bremerton’s practices include staff training, fencing and vegetation around vineyards, wine tourism biosecurity signage around the property, and a focus on machinery cleanliness.
“We mostly use our own machinery and equipment in our vineyards, with a little bit of contract machinery used, but that’s a local contractor and his machinery doesn’t go outside the region,” Lucy said. “And we don’t have trucks or harvesters coming in from interstate.”
Every Bremerton vineyard has its own machinery wash-down pad, which was built when each vineyard was developed.
“Everything needs a good clean after it’s had sticky grape juice on it, so we’ve always washed down machinery as it comes out of the vineyard,” Lucy said.
When Bremerton redeveloped its cellar door in 2020, adding an extension to its restored 1866 stone barn, the orientation of the building was changed to offer a view over the home vineyard. “Visitors can now see the vines from inside the cellar door which has kept people out of them,” Lucy said.
“We don’t take cellar door visitors into the vineyard and when we set up our carpark, we made sure it was fenced to prevent vineyard entry, and that there was a clear walkway to the cellar door to control traffic flow.”
As well as the carpark fence, a levy bank runs along the border of Bremerton’s home vineyard, which acts as a natural barrier. “Visitors will stand on the bank and look, but they don’t go over. And we’ve got a sign there asking visitors not to enter the vineyard,” Lucy said.
“When we take trade visitors into the vineyard, we talk to them about biosecurity. We make sure their shoes are clean, and we educate them about why our vines need to be protected from pests, diseases and weeds.
“And we have registers of all non-Bremerton people coming into our vineyards, whether it’s a trade visitor, a winemaker from a company we’re selling fruit to, or a vineyard consultant.”
All roads and paths are bitumen or crushed gravel to prevent visitors from touching soil which can harbour pests and diseases.
And when regional grower events are held at a Bremerton vineyard, Lian Jaensch, Executive Officer of Langhorne Creek Grape & Wine Association, organises footbaths and sign-in sheets.
“Lian is hot on biosecurity which is great,” Lucy said. “It means there’s a good awareness of biosecurity across Langhorne Creek and good uptake with biosecurity signage, footwear disinfestation, machinery cleanliness and staff training, which benefits us all in the region.”
