Alkina

We seek to understand, nurture, care for and ultimately express this beautiful land in its wines, its values and its experiences for visitors. ‘ALKINA’ is an Indigenous Australian girl’s name meaning ‘Moon’ or ‘Moonlight’. This name embodies our respect for the land and the many forces of nature that we work with to bring life, energy and authenticity to our wines. Ancient stones and soils, organic and biodynamic viticulture, small scale winemaking and the creation of unique micro-terroir wines, grown and made on our estate in the Western Barossa ranges of the Barossa Valley.

We want to make wine that is an expression of this place; pure, authentic, terroir wines from healthy vines in healthy soils. We want to make the very best wines we can by having a deeper knowledge and understanding of the land. A human’s influence is relevant for a short time, but the land is timeless if we look after it.

The farm sits on the traditional lands of the Ngadjuri people. We acknowledge the Ngadjuri people as the traditional custodians of this land. We seek to honour the land’s Aboriginal history, to learn from their spiritual relationship with Country and to promote the idea of guardianship rather than ownership. We pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging.

We want our wines to be completely reflective of the landscape of Alkina, so we look for the most authentic expression possible. It is a quest for beauty that comes from the earth, the revelation of the sensual personality of place. With this in mind, we must have a broad, complex and highly functioning set of interconnecting ecosystems at work. We strongly believe that you can only achieve this by cutting out synthetic chemicals, so Alkina has been run organically since day one.

In some regions it’s hard to make the change to organic viticulture because of the weather, but the Barossa has a warm, dry climate and our site is particularly windy, so it the switch has been a great success. We farm grapes in a way that is harmonious with our surroundings and in a way that will leave the soils and the ecosystems in a healthier state than when we found them.

The front 40 hectares of the farm has been certified organic and biodynamic, by NASAA, since 2018. The back block, formerly the Owens Vineyard, was added on in 2017 and has also been farmed organically throughout and received full certification in 2022. Greenock Creek runs through the farm like a vital artery. Even though it is often dry, it still teems with life, with native plant species and our precious native bee population. Heavy winter rainfall fills the pond towards the back of the farm occasionally and you can see the birdlife explode around this time. Along the creek banks we have undertaken significant work to restore native species. In the early years this meant pulling out invasive trees and bushes to give our native plantings a chance to get established again and each year we plant extensively along the creek. In 2017 we completed a comprehensive insect survey, through which we identified 12,500 individual species on the farm, including lots of beneficial insects and native bee species. From there we have been able to identify plantings that help foster these friendly species and naturally reduce the populations of pests. It is a never-ending work in progress…but one that fosters incredible vibrancy and a sense of natural energy on the farm.

By employing biodynamic practices we are able to learn how to work in harmony with nature, to observe changes and improvements each year, and to allow the vineyard to perform at its biodiverse and complex best. Complexity breeds stability and resilience in nature and the benefits stretch far beyond what you might see in a text book. The farm at Alkina was established in 2015 when Argentinian vintner, Alejandro Bulgheroni purchased a property near Greenock in the Barossa Valley with a vineyard planted in the 1950s and old stone buildings built in the 1850s. Together with local winegrower, Amelia Nolan, they both loved the rolling hills and the promise of the geology that lay beneath, as well as
the area of old Grenache, Shiraz, Mataro and Semillon vines that we now call the Old Quarter.