Botobolar by Gil Wahlquist

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Botobolar

Botobolar was established in 1971 by Gil Wahlquist, who was one of Australia’s most prominent organic viticulturists. He acquired a 120 acre property, with 60 acres devoted to his vineyards and constructed an on-site winery. This was purchased in 1993 by Trina & Kevin Karstrom, who have continued the legacy Gil Wahlquist by maintaining the organic nature of Botobolar, and further enhancing its status in the local area and nationwide. Botobolar is a very successful organic winery, which can be attributed to a number of combined locational and ecological factors.

Botobolar is located at 32 Degrees and 32 minutes south and 149 Degrees and 42 Minutes East, which is between the 30th and 50th degrees of latitude, which is the ideal location for wine growing. This, along with a variety of socio-cultural, organizational, and biophysical factors, have been the main reasons that Botobolar has been able to successfully produce their wines, which have been marketed world-wide.

The defining feature of Botobolar is its organic status, which it has maintained since its establishment. This tradition of organically growing their grapes and producing their wines has greatly affected what varieties of grapes they grow, who they market to, the impact of tourism, and how they manage and cope with biophysical factors, such as soils, climate, and other hazards.

The soil around Botobolar is high in clay content, which is beneficial to their attempts at growing Shiraz, Cabernet, Chardonnay, and Marsanne grape varieties. This productive soil is a result of their biodynamic method of viticulture, which utilizes the growing of other plants such as grasses, over the vineyards, and letting animals such as sheep graze over and fertilize the gr...

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... allows grasses to be grown along with them, and eliminates the risk of erosion and salinity problems. Water usage is also efficient in the winemaking process, as all wastewater gets filtrated to a dam, where acidity levels are monitored and it can evaporate.

These organic grape-growing & wine-making methods all collaborate into creating an efficient and sustainable biodynamic viticulture enterprise, which has cemented itself as prominent organic wine growing entity in Mudgee, and Australia. The locational factors such as soil, climate, choice of grape, and the growth of tourism in the Mudgee area have all been instrumental in shaping Botobolar into the business it has become. The ecological dimensions related to Botobolar have influenced it into emphasizing on its organic and boutique status, which has pushed it into the limelight of Mudgee’s wine industry.

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