Hans-Peter Schmidt is the European thought-leader in using biochar in vineyards. He first established a biochar trial at experimental vineyard Domaine de Mythopia in Switzerland in 2007. Since then, his work with biochar has expanded into Germany, Norway, France, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Austria. He has published the following information about biochar improving production and quality of wine grapes.
The 2010 data collected for the biochar experiment confirm the results of previous years and show ar has a significant influence on all parameters investigated. Due to the significantly improved grape health, higher anthocyanin, higher amino-N and lower acid value an improved wine quality can be expected in the biochar treatment. It confirms literature findings (Lehmann 2003) that biochar treatments shift plant nutrient uptakes to their particular optimum ranges. For some elements, this means an increasing uptake while for others a decrease.