A Collaboration for Clean Water by Julianne Donnini, Owner & Wine Maker at Auburn Road Vineyards.
My name is Julianne Donnini and along with my husband we own Auburn Road Vineyards & Winery in Salem County New Jersey. We started our business in 2003 and planted our first vines in 2004. Today we have 23 acres of vines at two locations. We grow 8 different grape varieties and make wine on site with all our grapes as well as purchased fruit. We sell the majority of our wines at our lovely tasting room located on our main vineyard site which also offers light food pairings.
Grape vines need proper drainage in order to successfully grow. Specifically it is very important to keep their roots dry, so as we designed the vineyard and parking area we created a storm water run off area. Given the heavy deluges of rain water that South Jersey can receive, the run off area never drained well. We had tried to develop a rain garden several years ago but we were not successful.
So when Cheryl Reardon from the Association of NJ Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) reached out to us in 2021 we were so excited and ready for their help.
ANJEC, along with several other partners (including Rutgers, NJ Audubon, South Jersey Land & Water Trust, NJ Conservation Foundation) did everything from site plan, to garden design and plant choices, to executing the dig and planting onsite.
The site is designed perfectly. It has made an eyesore and troubled drainage area into a beautiful garden of native plants. It has beautified our site. It has enhanced our drainage system. It has encouraged beneficial insects. We cannot say enough about the experience. We are extremely grateful for this project.
It also fits in perfectly with our approach to farming here at Auburn Road. We live on our farm and we are always looking for ways to be environmentally responsible and incorporate conservation into our business. For instance we have solar panels on our farm buildings and tasting room and winery. We are looking into more sustainable vineyard practices including using sheep for weed control and soil health and incorporating organic sprays into our spray schedule. We already perform most of our vineyard tasks by hand rather than by tractor reducing our greenhouse emissions and reducing the compaction of our soil. In the winery we are eliminating capsules on bottles (total waste of plastic goes right into a landfill). We do not use heavy wine bottles which are a crazy waste of glass and the fuel to transport them. We use natural cork which is renewable, recyclable, and biodegradable. We have also worked with Rowan University, located in Glassboro, NJ, to experiment with using our waste from winemaking into clean bio-fuel. And of course in the tasting room we recycle as much as we can, we have eliminated single use bags and paper menus and we use all compostable plates, napkins and utensils in the Enoteca.
Bottom line is that ANJEC and the groups supporting this program have provided a great service to us and our community. I encourage consumers to look out for and support local businesses that have partnered with ANJEC. Clean water equals a better planet and definitely equals better wine!
Julianne Donnini
Owner & Winemaker
Auburn Road Vineyards
117 Sharptown Auburn Road
Pilesgrove, NJ 08098
www. auburnroadvineyards.com
Check out the interview on POP FM 99.9 Podcast link below to learn more about this great collaboration: