Category Archives: farming practices

Barone Pizzini, one of the oldest in Franciacorta & an organic farming pioneer

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barone pizzini organic farmingFounded in 1870, Barone Pizzini is one of the oldest wineries in Franciacorta and it was the first estate in the appellation to practice organic farming. Ever since its conversion in the 1990s and the organic certification of all its vineyards in 2001, the winemaking team at Barone Pizzini has remained faithful to its belief that chemical-free farming is essential to the production of high-quality wines.

In the 2007, the estate opened the doors of its new eco-friendly cellar and winemaking facility. Every stage of vinification is carried out with the lowest possible impact on the environment and with the lowest possible carbon footprint. The team at Barone Pizzini is convinced that this approach is vital in achieving the fullest expression of each growing site’s terroir.

Among the various practices employed by the winery to lower energy needs, the estate’s solar energy panels can supply up to 55 kilowatts. And in recent years, Barone Pizzini became one of the first Franciacorta wineries to adhere to a carbon offset protocol. Its carbon footprint is measured annually by the Italian agricultural consulting firm Ita.Ca.

The vineyards cover a total surface area of 47 hectares (roughly 116 acres), divided into 25 parcels in the municipalities of Provaglio d’Iseo, Corte Franca, Adro and Passirano. The average altitude is 200 meters above sea level and the average age of the vines is 15-20 years. The estate’s growing sites are among the best in the appellation and are noted for their morainic subsoils and glacial deposits, the hallmarks of Franciacorta’s unique terroir.

First flowers are a sign that the soil has returned to life

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first flower vineyard

A note from the Barone Pizzini agronomist Pierluigi Donna:

Here are the first flowers that announce the vine’s upcoming production. It’s a very delicate phase in which the interaction between all the essences present in the soil and the biodiversity of the organisms become active again after the winter break.

With their presence and complexity, they help to contain the spores of the early parasites.

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.

Study finds pesticide residue in majority of French wines tested

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excell laboratory france

Last week, the French research laboratory Excell published the results of a study of pesticide residue in more than 300 French wines.

Here’s the write-up from Decanter magazine:

A study of more than 300 French wines has found that only 10% of those tested were clean of any traces of chemicals used during vine treatments.

Pascal Chatonnet and the EXCELL laboratory in Bordeaux tested wines from the 2009 and 2010 vintages of Bordeaux, the Rhone, and the wider Aquitaine region, including appellations such as Madiran and Gaillac.

Wines were tested for 50 different molecules found in a range of vine treatments, such as pesticides and fungicides.

Some wines contained up to nine separate molecules, with ‘anti-rot’ fungicides the most commonly found. These are often applied late in the growing season.

‘Even though the individual molecules were below threshold levels of toxicity,’ Chatonnet told Decanter.com, ‘there is a worrying lack of research into the accumulation effect, and how the molecules interact with each other.

‘It is possible that the presence of several molecules combined is more harmful than a higher level of a single molecule,’ he said.

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