All the wines we sell are produced following the philosophy of Agricoltura Ragionata® (Sustainable Agriculture), a trademark registered by our family with a view to communicating respect for our land.
AGRICOLTURA RAGIONATA®
This is a method handed down for generations from company founder Giuseppe Olivini, a working approach that places the safeguarding of the area, the land itself and therefore of its products at its core.
Agricoltura Ragionata® (Sustainable Agriculture) has been a registered trademark since 2018 and identifies our wish to intervene as little as possible using invasive practices: be it in the fields or in the cellar, for us, the land comes first.
For almost twenty years now our farming estate has been implementing agri-environmental measures that involve targeted use of crop protection chemicals, we have also opted for certain precautions designed for perfect product preservation: for instance we avoid excessive use of chemicals or preservatives when they are not needed, turning instead to technology to recreate the ideal conditions for the preservation of the wine and its sensory qualities.
We firmly believe that soil health and vine health are the key to a positive cycle of give and take with nature: the more we respect it, the better it can rise to challenges without excessive intervention by man.
After years of work, despite complying with official European and Italian certifications, we came to understand that our land is unique and would adapt to general rules with difficulty.
As we cannot put the designation on our labels, the following is a brief overview of our philosophy, and when you come to visit our winery, we will be more than happy to show you our respect for the land and the consumer at first hand.
ON TIP-TOE
Here are some practical examples of our vineyard practices:
- Battling a nasty parasite such as the European grapevine moth is no longer a problem for us: we prevent egg-laying in the vineyards by placing pheromones that cause what is known in jargon as “sexual confusion” there in springtime. The male European grapevine moths become confused with the female pheromone so that they do not reproduce.
- Grass is always mowed when long and only on alternate rows; this practice prevents the development of primary infection by the peronospora pathogen, while the tall grass also acts as a refuge for all those “useful” insects that prey on the insects that are otherwise damaging to the vine.
- A very important practice that we carry
- The fertilisation necessary for the production of these plants is exclusively organic: mostly cow manure is used, which, aside from introducing the nourishing elements that the plant needs, it also revitalises the microbiological profile of the soil.
- In the event of adverse weather (hail, freezing temperatures, drought) despite all the care and attention given to cultivation, the plants may come under stress: when this happens we intervene with seaweed-based products, which revitalise the vines, thus avoiding the use of chemical fertilisers.
- These and many other adaptations allow us to keep our land alive and in top condition, with higher numbers than ever of insects, earthworms, snails, and all those living things that help increase biodiversity in the eco-system of the vineyard.
``A good winemaker should walk among the vines on tip-toe, with as little disturbance as possible to everything that nature alone can give us.``
WORKING WITH GRACE
Agricoltura Ragionata® (Sustainable Agriculture) means much more than the good sense that guides our commitment to the fields, it’s also all those procedures in the winery production cycle that lead to our finished product:
- At the very beginning of the wine-making process there will be a 100 sq m refrigeration unit: this will allow us to store the freshly harvested grapes at a temperature of 25-28 °C, to cool them in advance of pressing to prevent spontaneous fermentation due to grape breakage, and then the grapes are at an appropriate temperature for the procedure when they reach the hopper.
- We have fitted a tube in tube exchanger between the destemmer and the press to manage the temperature even more carefully, as 20% of our product is then processed for cold maceration, which enables us to achieve outstanding extraction of the olfactory and gustatory properties of the given variety.
- Our wine vats, used for ageing the product, are equipped with devices such as a cooling system, enabling us to better preserve both the product and its properties.
- All of our steel barrels have a system where nitrogen can be introduced which then forces the air out, preventing the wine from oxidising or worse still from forming mould.
- Another measure that sets us apart is the practice of sustaining natural wine preservation: deciding to store it in the steel barrels along with yeasts and lees that act as natural preservatives, then proceeding to mix the entire mass so that all the product can reap the benefits.
- A few short days before bottling the product is filtered and fined, allowing us to work with very low sulphite levels, which in our case are within the limits permissible under organic certification.
