A new journey has begun, the one towards sustainability. But what does it mean and how is it possible to achieve it? Let’s see what sustainable wines are.
Today we talk more and more often about sustainability and sustainable development. this term is used in various fields: environmental, social and economic, etc. What interests us, and which we will analyze today, concerns the field of agriculture, and specifically WINE.
What is sustainable wine?
The idea of sustainable wine was conceived in the 1960s. The basic idea is simple: to produce wine by preserving natural resources over time. There is talk of something even deeper than integrated and organic agriculture. It is not enough to pay attention only to the care of the vineyard but also to what goes around it.
Work in the vineyard and organic agriculture
To begin it is necessary to emphasize the work in the vineyard. From traditional agriculture we are moving towards integrated agriculture that provides a different approach to adversity in order to respect the environment and the health of the consumer. It is no longer possible to use “heavy” pesticides without taking care of their effect on biodiversity and permanence in the soil. Only after understanding the causes, effects and life cycle can we proceed with an intervention that uses biodegradable products or even better biotechnologies. Insects or other living beings are increasingly used to counteract the action of specific pathogens rather than synthetic chemicals. This type of agriculture protects both the microscopic and macroscopic biodiversity within the vineyard, guaranteeing a richer and healthier soil.
In this sense, our company Terradonnà has been committed to a conversion to organic for several years now, a path that will see certification with the 2022 harvest.
Water consumption is also a determining factor. Precisely for this reason our vineyards are equipped with an irrigation system which, as per DOCG Suvereto regulations, is used only for emergency irrigation. In this way, the hydrogeological balance of the territory is safeguarded.
This transition from traditional to integrated agriculture is so important that the Ministry of Ecological Transition is at the fore. Recently, the Ministry of Ecological Transition created the VIVA project. The goal is to certify companies that are committed to sustainable production by monitoring four factors: AIR, WATER, TERRITORY and VINEYARD.
From grapes to wine
But just paying attention in the vineyard is not enough! It is in fact necessary to pay attention also to what comes after, that is the WINE. In Terradonnà, innovative and traditional production methods are combined and the aim is to have the least possible impact. In addition to an oenological production in compliance with the organic regulations, in our winemaking cellar the concrete vats are the protagonists. These, in addition to the organoleptic advantages due to micro oxidations, allow excellent thermal insulation. An extremely important factor for the production of reds. In this way, inefficiencies and energy costs of winemaking are reduced.
Bottling and aging
With a view to sustainable production, we have also chosen to use almost exclusively lightweight glass. The bottles used by our company boast less weight but are practically indistinguishable from a classic Bordeaux in terms of aesthetics and resistance. The use of these particular bottles leads to a reduction in costs, but above all to emissions due to transport. The light glass, in fact, allows the transport of the same quantity of product with half the weight due to the packaging. A big advantage for those who like us work mainly abroad, in our case: Japan, Switzerland, Venezuela and Germany.
The attention to the environment does not stop there, for the aging of the bottles Terradonnà has chosen to go further. We have in fact built a special bio-architecture cellar made entirely of wood. This guarantees us a minimum environmental impact and a very high insulation coefficient. This last factor, combined with the photovoltaic panels that power the company, allows for significant energy and economic savings.
With this article we hope to have helped you understand what sustainable wine production is and our commitment to it.