I heard a great quote that went something like this: when you’re a child, you think your parents are gods. When you become an adolescent, you realize they’re human. When you become an adult, you forgive them for being human. When you become wise, you forgive yourself for being human.
My guest for this episode is Nick Dugmore. Nick is a winemaker in South Australia for his winery The Stoke. Nick listened to the episode I recorded with Jeff Lowenfels about the soil microbiome, and he’s been traveling down the regenerative viticulture rabbit hole ever since. In 2023 he was named Australia’s Young Gun of Wine, and then four months ago he was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer. He’s 39 years old.
When you hear Nick’s positivity, humor, and joy, keep in mind that he’s in the midst of the following treatment schedule: 5 x 3 week rounds of chemotherapy with 1 week of intravenous followed by 112 tablets over two weeks and then a week break. Then 6 weeks of radiotherapy which is 5 days a week at the hospital for 45 mins. Then a 3 month break and then surgery to remove what’s left.
We talk frankly about his cancer and the fact that his alcohol consumption may have contributed to it. Yet Nick is incredibly grateful to work in wine, and he loves the winemaking community. Both Nick and I can thank wine for the most important relationships in our lives – our spouses. But if his cancer was caused by alcohol, there’s a chance that alcohol could take his life. Both are parts of wine, and there are many more. Nick talks about the wine community that has come to his aid, and he talks about the spirituality of wine, and the beauty of Kangaroo Island where he converted 12 acres of conventional vineyard to a thriving regenerative ecosystem. He makes some profound connections between soil health, physical health, and mental health. And at least twice he mentions how busy we all are, and how this leads us to make thoughtless decisions… because we don’t have the time to be thoughtful.
It reminds me of the famous quote from Bill Mollison’s Permaculture Designers Manual: "The philosophy behind permaculture is one of working with, rather than against, nature, of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless action."
As I think about regenerating wine, Nick has made me think about how important time is. The speed of our lives is completely antithetical to the complexity of life. Look how patiently nature grows an ecosystem, look how it builds complexity and diversity layer by layer over centuries. I want to make wine this way. I want to think about wine this way, and let this perspective inform the decisions I make for this vintage. I want to stop rushing to buy things when I don’t know where they came from or how they were made. I want to take the time to observe and learn about complex things carefully. I want to take the time to be grateful.
If you’re moved by Nick’s story, he mentions a go-fund me campaign that his wine community set up for him and his family, and you can link to that here.
https://stokewines.au/
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Sponsors:
Centralas Wine
Re-Defining Wine, Rebuilding A Real Wine Culture - Hermit Woods Winery, New Hampshire
Transitioning To Ecological Viticulture with Zac Brown of Alderlea Vineyards
Wild Grapes, Cosmic Evolution, & Dealing with Eco-Anxiety
Fearless Wine - Picking Frontenac Gris with La Garagista, La Montañela, and Lilith Wines
Adapting To The Future of Wine By Breeding Resistant Varieties in Catalonia - Mireia Pujol-Busquets
Cultivating Life: A Call For A Diversity of Viticultures
Gizem Duyar - Making Wine From Married Vines In Turkey (Vitiforestry & Natural Wine)
Westside Winos - Drinking Local At Offhand Wine Bar
Reforesting The Earth Through Vitiforestry - Etelle Higonnet
For Ever - Beautiful Biodiverse Biodynamic Dry-Farmed AmByth Estate with Gelert Hart
Deborah Parker Wong - Slow Wine USA & Wine’s Ecological Context
Dave Carr - Raging Cider & Mead in Southern California
Don’t Enter The Forest. Become It. Mike Biltonen - Part 2
Walking Through Biodynamic Apostrophe Orchard with Mike Biltonen of Know Your Roots
Brent Mayeaux - Stagiaire Wine & Wine From Here Fair
Marcelo Castro Vera - Making Wine Without Electricity or Sulfites in Mexico
Dan Durica - Hardcore Sustainable, No-Spray Permaculture Vineyard at Dancing Rabbit Ecovilliage Missouri
Xaime Niembro - Vinos Barrigones
Amy Lee - Solving Wine’s Biggest Problem
Jess Hopwood - A Magical Tour of the Okanagan
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