Vineyard – the decision for organic agriculture

The Azienda Agricola Lo Zerbone is in conversion to the organic method since 2007 (certification by BIOS), the 4th season under our direction.

During 2004 - 2006 we followed the rules of integrated agriculture, but in view to pass to the organic.
Basic principals of organic agriculture are:

• employing only natural plant-protective agents (f. ex. Cupper, Sulphur, Pyrethrum) instead of chemical synthetic products
• it is forbidden to use herbicides, for consequence the cultivation of soil is only mechanic
• respecting and augmenting useful species to control the noxious, fundamental element is the green in the vineyard.

Organic agriculture is taking in consideration the whole ecosystem creating a dialogue between the farmer and the cultivations. Obviously the observation of the vineyards becomes very important, because the possibilities of intervention on eventual diseases are limited. This augmented attention of course is contributing a lot to excellent quality.

Though the working time and the cost are higher, it seems to us the right solution to avoid chronical problems in the vineyard that were caused by a long (the vines were planted 30 years ago) a uniform cultivation. In addition the combination of the organic method and techniques of vinification that don’t destroy the character of the grapes produces completely original and genuine wines.

This was one reason to choose the organic method, but we think that the organic certification combined with that of controlled origin (DOC = Denominazione d’origine controllata), the control of the geographic provenance and respect of quality parameters is an important guarantee for the customer.