FMaking sustainable wine means having more respect for the environment and healthtrying to preserve resources for future generations. Experimentation in the field, i.e. in the vineyard, is fundamental. In Franciacorta (hilly area in Lombardy, between Brescia and the southern end of Lake Iseo), winemakers have given themselves more restrictive rules than those dictated by current legislation regarding the use of agrochemicals to regulate the methods of distribution of plant protection products on vineyards, especially where urban contexts coexist with agricultural activity.
New techniques in the vineyard
It’s not over. From vineyard to vineyard, the research knows no stopping. «In terms of climate change, drip irrigation is being tested in Franciacorta for the optimized management of water resources.. Furthermore, the Franciacorta Consortium has set up a new micro-vinification laboratory, which allows us to try, a few steps from the vineyards, new techniques for adapting plants to global warming” says Flavio Serina, head of the Consortium’s research and development office . «For about fifteen years, a control tool, Ita.Ca®, has been used in the Franciacorta area, which monitors and measures the greenhouse gas emissions of companies, and provides indications to make wine production more sustainable» continues Serina.
Better to send insects into (sexual) confusion
A curiosity: against the vine moth, greedy for grapes, an ecological method that cleverly deceives the insects has proven to be successful: that of “sexual confusion”, that is, the use in the vineyard of highly concentrated sexual pheromone diffusers that disorientate the males of Lobesia botrana preventing them from recognizing the female signal.
Rows of vines in Franciacorta, an area in which cultivation and winemaking have “environmentally friendly” rules.
Works: failed matings between grape-eating insects reduce the incidence of subsequent generations. The sexual confusion method is economically expensive, but absolutely in line with the principles of sustainability which have taken on priority importance for viticulture. The environment thanks you.
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