Sustainability

The distribution in vineyards of organic fertilizers is done through the study of plant vigor. In this regard, vigor maps make it possible to replenish the organic matrix according to the actual needs of the soil, avoiding unnecessary waste, so more homogeneous soils are obtained. Important is the operation of replanting the soil in order to ensure its oxygenation, which preserves the content of organic matter and microorganisms present.
The organic matter distributed has always been of animal origin, and to this is added marc stored for a year to be distributed as a soil conditioner the following year. Controlled grassing mowing in alternate rows are useful agronomic practices to protect phytophagous and entomophagous insects. Dedicated seeding allows working on the chemical aspect of the soil and enriching it through, for example, the use of nitrogen fixers or on the physical/mechanical aspect with the use of species capable of allowing, through the roots, greater oxygenation of the soil or greater resistance to the different passages of vehicles. All these practices together positively affect the fertility of soils and their ability to capture CO2. The BIOPAS Project is one of the systems we use to monitor organic matter always in search of its perfect balance.

110 ha, of which 45 ha are planted with vines with a view to protecting biodiversity and not homogenizing. The top of the hill of Madonna della Rosa, covered with forest of oaks, heather and junipers, slopes down to the entrance of the winery, in terraces straightened by dry stone walls, destined since ancient times for the cultivation of vines. Hedges, an important shelter for fauna are here and there maintained to protect a wealth of species, necessary for the balance of the place. Even the choice of rooted cuttings different by clone and different by rootstock has as its objective to enrich biodiversity. On the opposite slope, Monte Delma, walnut trees, chestnut trees and arable parts of the flat area facing north enrich the property. Cherry trees and fruit trees in general extend the richness of the place. Biodiversity is also protected in the cellar where indigenous yeasts selected by Nature over the centuries and which Villa Franciacorta has patented and protected have been enhanced. Clones are reproduced every year by the University of Florence and used in the cellar in first fermentation on all bases and in refermentation on some reserves, a fermentation that could therefore be said to be spontaneous but managed according to a protocol that guarantees the absolute quality of the final result.

Let the vines, even in drought seasons, find the water resources they need in the depths of the soils of marine origin, which are grassed, rich in organic matter and thus able to hold up best in the driest years without any need for relief water.
Although this is a historic structure and therefore seems precluded from recovering rainwater, it has been possible to capture the drainage water that collects under the cellar floors and channel it into a storage tank along with the rainwater recovered from the new cellar section.
Water this, drawn and metered through a meter, which is used for washing and cleaning operations of the cellar spaces, yards and for 'irrigation of the gardens. The presence, moreover, for decades of a well, guarantees part of the water needed for the remaining more delicate operations.