Paulett Wines: Ali Paulett pairs bushfoods with sustainable wine

A South Australian winery’s kitchen garden has sprouted a network of educators, cooks and community. Meet the woman behind it all.

Growing a kitchen garden with a focus on Indigenous foods and sowing huge swathes of land to broadacre cropping may be worlds apart.

But there are plenty of opportunities for farmers to diversify their businesses while also working with the natural bounty of Australian native species.

That’s according to Ali Paulett, whose passion is educating consumers about the wonders of locally grown produce, while cultivating an appetite for quality food.

Based on her family’s South Australian winery, Paulett Wines, Ali collaborates with First Nations people and fosters community connections through her Australian native kitchen garden, Bush DeVine.

“At the heart of it, we’re family owned and run. We have lots of passions, and community and education is a big one for us,” Ali said.

“I’ve always loved food and wine, and culinary tourism has always been what I’ve leaned into the most.”

In 2010, Ali planted the first plants in her bush garden, and has since run classes and sessions for children and adults.

The recipient of a 2020 Tourism Development Fund, Ali has since been awarded the 2023 SA AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award for her work.

Food grown in the garden goes directly to the winery’s kitchen, where the chef draws inspiration from what’s grown seasonally.

Ali Paulett, AgriFutures SA award winner and First Nations food educator. Picture: Supplied

Ali’s passion for working with the land extends to the family’s business as well.

Paulett Wines is operated sustainably, Ali said, with minimal reliance on irrigation and an organic vineyard is part of the enterprise.

“We do reticulated green beds, we recycle water all through the winery,” Ali said.

“Our wineries run on rainwater, we have no mains water at all. There are solar panels, and we use all of our green waste.”

But for Ali, the true reward lies with passing on knowledge about food and food production, while collaborating with First Nations communities.

She said there was plenty of opportunity for larger agricultural enterprises to embrace diversity when planting, and to take inspiration from native species.

“I think farmers are getting a lot better about planting species that are suited to their environment. And that could be a combination of planting saltbush hedges, you could have some European-style vegetables and things like that,” Ali said.

“Even in a commercial space, there’s an opportunity for people to diversify.”