“Nature was born relatively perfect and balanced; we, over time, have thrown it out of balance. We are now trying to rebuild what we ourselves have ruined.”

Regenerative agriculture is gaining traction in Portugal. This form of production, which focuses on the balance of nature and soil health, and which does not use any synthetic chemicals (unlike organic farming, which can do so as long as these chemicals also exist in nature), will be presented and discussed this Saturday, May 31, at the 2nd edition of the Regenerative Wine Fest.

The main objectives of the event, which will feature 14 wine producers who practice regenerative agriculture, are to share knowledge and provide information to consumers, explains Luís Serrano Mira, owner of Herdade das Servas, which is hosting the event. “It’s a different vision of the vineyard itself. It’s not what my father did,” says the wine producer. “The ecosystem is out of balance and we have to rebalance it.”

Luís is the 13th generation of his family to produce wine. Why is Herdade das Servas investing in regenerative agriculture? And would you say it is a revolution in the way we produce? We can’t continue doing things the same way on a planet overloaded with pesticides, herbicides and other things that end in “idas”. There has to be a change in attitude, and I believe I should lead this change. As a rule, it is the smaller farmers who lead it. Herdade das Servas, with its 350 hectares, would probably not be the project that would most easily lead this type of revolution, but… Actually, I don’t really like the word revolution. It’s really a change in attitude. We can’t continue to kill [insects and other animals] that help us when we need them, we can’t continue to upset nature’s balance…

Can you give us examples of this change in attitude? What are the main differences in the way vineyards are treated? If we look at a vineyard in the past, we see that there was not a single weed. The vineyard was very beautiful, all well-kept, it looked like an idyllic landscape. Today, a vineyard, for example, at Herdade das Servas, is full of weeds. People think that we don't have the money to look after the vineyard or that we are completely careless. It seems that nature has entered the culture, which can lead to some antagonism. It is a different view of the vineyard itself. It is not what my father did. And I myself also killed the weeds with herbicides. Obviously, I was not only killing the weeds, I was also killing the auxiliary plants that were in the weeds. Today, we encourage the emergence of biodiversity. In fact, we grow our own crops so that a lot of microbiology can develop in the soil.

In other words, the method involves balancing the ecosystem. We seek to balance the ecosystem. The ecosystem is out of balance and we have to rebalance it. Nature was born relatively perfect and balanced; over time, we have thrown it out of balance. We are now trying to rebuild what we ourselves have ruined.

What positive impacts have you noticed on the ecosystem or soil regeneration? The other day, I was talking to our winegrower and oenologist, and he was saying that this is a very stressful year, with a series of diseases due to humidity, heat, and various situations. And today, plants are showing themselves to be much more resilient, fighting back. We have managed to strengthen the plants’ immune system to the point that they are fighting their own diseases. That is where we have to act. Plants are not very different from us, as living beings. We all need a good immune system to respond to external aggressions. Basically, what we do to plants is to strengthen their immune system through their roots, which is their stomach.

Can we achieve the same levels of production with these techniques? We cannot start from the same premises, no. But Herdade das Servas was no longer under these premises. Of the 350 hectares, only 20% are irrigated. Therefore, our expected production per hectare is low. I would say that on average we are around 4 thousand kilos per hectare. Therefore, no, we do not have overproduction per hectare.

What is the average for conventional production? Double: 8,000 per hectare. But it is not producing more per hectare that drives me. What drives me is to value my products, my wines, more, because if the wines are not valued, naturally, I am further away from being a profitable company, and economic sustainability cannot be lost.

To achieve economic sustainability with smaller productions, consumers need to recognize and reward wine produced with more sustainable practices. Is this already happening? There is still a lot of greenwashing… Consumers value what they understand or interpret as sustainability, but often this sustainability is nothing more than occasional sustainable practices. Alentejo has a program that is almost unique in the world, the PSVA [Alentejo Wine Sustainability Program], with 190 very rigorous points, and we are PSVA certified throughout the area. This is a little different from producers who are certified in small areas. But I don’t know if consumers notice this difference. We need to be more agile in communicating…

Do you notice differences between Portuguese consumers and other consumers, particularly in Northern Europe? Journalists from Germany and above often seek us out to find out what we do. There is a natural eagerness on the part of journalists to understand how this region is different from others. Our journalists don't seek us out as much, I think not out of disinterest but perhaps out of lack of knowledge.

The PSVA certification does not yet have the visibility, among consumers in general, of other certifications. Furthermore, there is no official certification for regenerative agriculture in particular. Is this a problem? It could be a problem. We have a peer validation system, that is, we validate each other's practices. It is a relatively informal system, but it is effective. It is desirable that, in the future, there will be a Portuguese certification that makes sense, with the requirements included in specifications, because this cannot just be a matter of saying “we do this, we do that”.

Organic farming has become popular partly because of its simplicity: it is easy to tell the public that it does not use synthetic chemicals. Regenerative agriculture is more complex, because it involves a number of different methods and techniques. Is there a simple way to get the message across to the average consumer? There is a simple way: people who practice regenerative agriculture seek to regenerate the cradle of life, which is the soil. Organic farming (and we are also certified organic) does not. It is a halfway house, also because there are some inconsistencies in the organic legislation.

What are these inconsistencies? The fact that they can use synthetic products, as long as they also exist in nature? Companies with a lot of investment capacity in the market are investing in the organic market. But our goal is to completely abandon all synthetic products, that is, what is synthesized in factories is not applied in regenerative agriculture or viticulture. This creates some limitations, imposed by ourselves, for us to be able to regenerate the soil. For example: to combat a fungus, we can use horsetail extract, which is produced by nature. Therefore, we have natural elements to fight these. Some, we have to manufacture, because they are not available, others, like this one, are materials extracted by us to add to the soil.

Does regenerative agriculture go beyond organic farming? Just because organic products are approved as organic, that doesn’t mean they don’t contain products that are foreign to nature. Organic farming can use synthetic products. And there are some coppers that are somewhat toxic, and organic farming uses a lot of copper. That can’t happen in regenerative farming. The main idea in terms of regenerative farming is always soil microbiology. In terms of organic farming, the idea is “how can we cure the vineyard so that it produces without using conventional methods?” Soil microbiology is not supported by the organic system.

What would you like to see happen in the next five or ten years in this sector? It is important to put an end to some demagogy, because sustainability is a cliché that covers everything. We have to be careful. Consumers are bombarded with signals, and often these signals do not correspond to real practice. There is strong legislation, but there is a lack of control. If we can control what is done in the agri-food sector, we will be closer to making the best decisions as consumers. There needs to be greater scrutiny of the practices implemented on the ground.

A more active fight against greenwashing to avoid competitive imbalances? We only value something when we understand that it is what it says it is. Doubt does not bring value. For there to be value in differentiated agriculture, there must also be someone who controls it. There must be strong mechanisms to control what I do. From that moment on, we are all closer to not having greenwashing.

Is the Regenerative Wine Fest a way of spreading the message both internally and externally? In other words, to convince other producers to do the same and, at the same time, to make the advantages of regenerative agriculture known to the public? What we wanted to do when we created the Regenerative Wine Fest was to lead a change in attitude. In the first year, we invited eight producers, this year we will have 14 and I hope there will be more next year, and this means that there are clearly people thinking about this method of production. Please note that these 14 are all validated: the methodology they use in their vineyards is validated by their peers. There were some who wanted to be with us but it was not possible, because we were unable to validate the methodology. Credibility is important, because if we follow what is generally done – communication ahead of what is actually done – we will be doing what we do not intend to do, which is pretending to do it. And there's been a lot of pretending... With the Regenerative Wine Fest, we want to show the general public that we have an alternative methodology, that we don't use pesticides or herbicides synthesized in factories as a way of increasing production, but that, instead, we try to balance nature in order to extract the best quality from the grapes, and that the result is a higher quality wine.

Is this also a time to exchange experiences and practices? Exactly. And at the same time to gather strength. We are imbued with the same spirit, the same objective. When we make a mistake, we have our partner to say: “Hey, maybe you should have gone this way.” And we adjust. Even though the starting point is not the same for every winegrower.

Would you like the next edition to have an official seal that helps consumers recognize wines produced in this sustainable way on the shelves? We need to be careful, because consumers are full of signs. There is an excess of information. I don't know if it will result in the seal, but it will result in credibility, in a set of specifications that must be met.

In terms of legislation, what more could be done, whether at the European Union or national level, to encourage these agricultural practices? It's very easy: if we discourage greenwashing, we are encouraging the creation of value in alternative ways. And when I say this, I don't mean to say that regenerative farming is the only valid set of methods. There are several methodologies, and many people follow other paths, which I am less supportive of, but which I understand. But what makes sense is to combat greenwashing. We need to create strong legislation so that value is not given to those who do nothing. And I see this all the time. Many people associate themselves with symbols... For example, we can't have a label with a ladybug and do nothing. In other words, if there is a ladybug on it, the consumer interprets it as an organic product or one that is closer to nature. There are signs that should be excluded from the outset, that those who do nothing should be prevented from using. And many producers are being imaginative, putting signs of things they don't do.