Grapes, vines, wine and ... guinea pigs?

Maverick winery owner Peter Yealands, a long-time advocate of sustainability, has spent the last few months farming guinea pigs in a trial to keep the grass — and exhaust emissions — down at Yealands Estate in Marlborough.

This latest experiment is one of his many innovations and part of Yealand's mission to create New Zealand's first fully sustainable vineyard and winery.

Yealand originally introduced sheep to graze between some vines on the 1000-hectare estate. For a while this was effective in managing pest plants and weeds, reducing the need for fertiliser and mechanical mowing.

"The sheep were great until they developed a taste for the vines and grapes — for which I don't blame them!" said Yealand.

"We tried applying organic sprays to the grape canopies to stop the sheep eating the vines and grapes — but of course that was counterproductive in terms of reducing fuel emissions.

"Unlike sheep, guinea pigs are no threat to vine growth due to their small stature. The more I thought about it, the more I liked it. The critters graze and breed with very little sleep, and eat a surprising amount of grass for their body size, though it is still too early to see if they would ever be viable on a commercial scale."

The Yealands Estate vision is one of best practice from the vine to the bottle.

"I don't see the sense in doing something half right, particularly where the environment's at stake," Yealand said.

"Whether it's our state-of-the-art green technology, or a more basic method of reducing emissions in the vineyard, we never waver from this commitment."

"Overseas buyers are looking for a point of difference and they've told us loud and clear that it's our commitment to sustainability," Yealand said.

"Since we launched in August, we've already sold most of the 300,000 cases from our first vintage, which we are pretty pleased about."

Guinea pigs are just one of many green innovations at Yealands Estate. Other techniques include pioneering the use of GPS tracking devices to increase efficiencies in tractor work throughout the vineyard, solar and wind power in the winery, using pine oil as a herbicide, harvesting stormwater to irrigate the vineyards and developing more than 20 wetland areas at the estate to preserve native species and attract native birds.

Yealand is now asking New Zealanders to share their green ideas via www.mygreenidea.co.nz for the chance to win $50,000.