Liz Pitcher
ON SOLID GROUND
The future of wine growing in Australia is in the hands of people like Liz Pitcher, an innovative technical viticulturist who believes organic farming is the way forward.
Liz was fascinated by agriculture from a young age. Growing up on a crop farm in rural South Australia, she became passionate about the science behind farming and helping farmers grow more sustainably and went on to complete degrees in agricultural science and viticulture. Today she’s a leader in sustainable grape-growing in McLaren Vale, one of Australia’s most progressive wine regions.
Natural progression
After finishing an honours degree and in need of a break, Liz spent a year working in the lab of a McLaren Vale winery and soon found herself pursuing a career in viticulture. In 2013, Liz joined Chalk Hill Viticulture as Technical and Organic Manager.
“Getting out into the vineyard, that’s what it’s all about,” she says. “I just love being in the vines.”
Chalk Hill manages vineyards and helps growers produce top-quality fruit in a sustainable way. As part of her job, Liz oversees organic certification and other sustainability programs across 28 vineyards and looks after technical aspects like quality control for the 23 different varieties grown, including alternative and emerging varieties that suit Australia’s changing climate. She also sits on the board of the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Australia.
“Agriculture is not going to continue if we don’t manage it in a sustainable fashion,” she says.
Right now, Liz is especially excited about Barbera, an increasingly popular red variety that produces vibrant, food-friendly wines. Chalk Hill sells the fruit to 50 different buyers, each one making a unique style of wine.
“We’ve got three different blocks of Barbera spread from one end of the region to the other, and it’s wonderful to be able to manage them differently to achieve the wine style the different wineries are aiming for,” she says.
“The environment here in McLaren Vale is quite diverse. From one end of the region to the other, vines grow differently, there’s different soils, so it enables diversity and richness.”
Diversity is one of the things Liz loves most about the place where she lives and works.
“McLaren Vale is home. I love living in this wine region. It has lots of diversity in it. It’s country, but it’s also city. You can be who you want to be and it doesn’t matter.”
“Agriculture is not going to continue if we don’t manage it in a sustainable fashion.” – Liz Pitcher
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