Category Archives: environmental impact

Green manure (silly plowing) at Barone Pizzini

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green manure franciacorta

A note from the Barone Pizzini agronomist Pierluigi Donna:

Barone Pizzini borrows certain techniques from biodynamics, like that of increasing the organic substance in the soil by planting legumes that thrive between the rows. The plants enrich the soil with natural nitrogen without the use of fertilizers.

Using this “green manure” practice, we till the plants under so that the biomass gets worked into the soil, thus making more suitable for useful organisms and for the roots’ exploration.

Increasing the organic substance in the soil also means reducing the level of CO2 in the atmosphere and thus mitigates the greenhouse effect and helps the environment.

Carbon Calculator results for 2010 and comparison

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Last month, we announced Barone Pizzini’s participation in the Italian Wine Carbon Calculator program.

The following figures are the official results of the survey for 2009 and 2010.

carbon footprint winery italy

Click here for a copy of the report in Italian.

These comforting figures demonstrate that awareness of one’s our emissions allows us design a more virtuous process that helps winery in the short term and betters the environment in the long term.

Our commitment to the program has become a way of life for everybody who works at the winery. After the 1998 organic conversion of the estate, they were all accustomed to this type of challenge.

Total Capture (Metric Tonnes of CO2) from estate-owned vineyards
including the entire supply chain

2009: 817.185
2010: 820.305

Total Emissions (Tons of CO2)
reduced through application of solar energy and geothermics

2009: 435.205
2010: 433.202

Kilograms of CO2 Captured per Bottle Sold
increase of 14%

2009: -1.108
2010: -1.149

Water Consumed per Bottle Sold
(in liters/bottle)

2009: 10.13
2010: 8.104

net kW acquired

2009: 221,812
2010: 199,483

Total Energy Consumption
(in equivalent kg crude oil)

2009: 78,972
2010: 78,424

kW Employed per Bottle Sold

2009: 0.643
2010: 0.592

Diesel Consumption per Hectare
(limited to the winery)

2009: 321.610
2010: 300.992

Emissions in Tonnes of CO2 per Wine Product

2009: 17.41
2010: 15.19

Recovery in Tonnes of CO2 per Recycled Waste

2009: -5.47
2010: -6.77

A lighter bottle for the new vintage of Verdicchio

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best bottle format wine

The 2012 Pievalta was bottled today at the winery in Castelli di Jesi using a new bottle format that weighs significantly less than one used for the last vintage.

The new bottle weighs only 460 grams, 90 grams less than the previous (which weighed 550 grams, a reduction of 17 percent).

The new format will help to reduce greenhouse gasses, particularly carbon dioxide, because it reduces the amount of energy needed to produce the bottle and it also reduces the energy needed to transport it.

It’s a small step but an important one for people like us, who have always made the environment and its well-being a priority in our daily work.