Murrumbateman winery, Four Winds Vineyard, has launched a new shiraz in collaboration with Hyatt Regency Sydney and Australian food waste innovator, Goterra – the 2025 Circular Vintage Shiraz.
Goterra is tackling food waste in Australia, using robotic insect farms to turn food waste into fertiliser and animal feed – reducing emissions by up to 97 per cent compared to landfill. The company first partnered with Hyatt Regency Sydney in 2024 to sustainably manage the hotel’s food waste.
Organic waste from the Hyatt’s kitchens goes directly into Goterra’s specially built Modular Infrastructure for Biological Services (MIB) unit in the hotel’s basement, filled with millions of black soldier fly larvae that eat their way through the food scraps, excreting nutrient-rich frass.
Goterra CEO, Olympia Yarger, said the beauty of the process is that nothing is wasted.
“This is the first time our system has been used to support wine production,” said Yarger.
“Using insect frass to nourish vines creates a solution that benefits the vineyard, the hotel and the environment, and opens the door for new thinking across the wine industry.”
The fertiliser is used on Four Winds Vineyard’s vines, while the larvae are used as protein for poultry and pet food. The new Circular Vintage series will also launch a Riesling in September.
Four Winds Vineyard CEO, Sarah Collingwood, said the circular wine project made perfect sense for the family-run vineyard, 30 minutes’ drive from Canberra.
“We loved the idea of being able to return nutrients to the soil rather than having them end up in landfill,” said Collingwood.
“For us, this was about finding a practical way to close the loop between food, farming and wine and we’re incredibly proud to put our name to The Circular Vintage series, which shows that innovation and quality can go hand in hand.
“The Circular Vintage Shiraz is a typical cool-climate shiraz with distinctive white pepper and spice characters. We are equally excited about the riesling, which has been hand-picked recently and has the delicate citrus and floral flavours you come to expect from a Canberra District riesling.”
Four Winds Vineyard’s 2025 Circular Vintage Shiraz is now available online at fourwindsvineyard.com.au, for RRP $35.00.
