Biodynamics

Biodynamics is a next step up after organic farming, in that not only does it exclude the use of chemical and synthesized fertilizers, but i actually tries to regenerate the soil and the plants, through organic activators which help plants to find their own nutrients in the soil.

The plants are considered by taking into account the globality of their natural habitat, the energy they receive from land and air, from rain and wind, from light and heat, from the sun and the moon, from plants and stars: effectively they are living in a microcosmos but are part of a cosmic system. If all these elements are balanced in harmony the plant grows healthy, vigorous and thrives up to its maximum potential, granting the gift of good fruit, rich in flavours and wholesome qualities.

Feeding the palts naturally

The nutrient substances, mainly contained in the humus of the soil, are retained by the colloids and are absorbed by the fine roots of the plant only when the plant's metabolism, activated by the heat of the sun, indicates that there is real need for them.

The water present in the soil, which is poor in soluble minerals, is absorbed continuously by the large and vertical roots, to substitute the water that the plant has lost during its transpiration. In so doing, the plant reaches its equilibrium because it absorbs nutritive substances only on the basis of its real need, driven by natural rhythms brought about by the sun.

In contrast, if water soluble fertilizers are used, plants are obliged to absorb mineral salts independently of their real requirements, thus compromising their own physiological equilibrium.

The Biodynamic preparations

500 – Known also as cow horn-manure, this is the most potent activator of soil fertility in existence. Sprayed on damp earth it develops microbial activity, and the levels of "humus" and the growth of roots improve the structure of the soil, making it richer in organic substances. This preparation is made of cowshed manure stored for 6 months underground in the horn of an ox.

501 – Known as the preparation of light, it is used to attract more light to the plants and to eliminate excess water. Plants become more turgid and develop vertically, the products have a more intense flavour, sweeter and can be stored for longer. Preparation 501 is made of crystal quartz.

Compost preparations, 502-507 are made from pruning material and from discarded plant parts. These preparations are used in the manure heap and added to 500 so as to produce what is known as prepared preparation 500, an enhanced preparation 500.

Natural Wine-Making

Farming activity following the biodynamic methods has made it possible to look at the productive process from a different point of view. Ripening more balanced grapes, and free from chemical substances, has prompted us to look for a method of vinification that should keep its characteristics faithfully and intact. In this way, gradually year after year we have started to eliminate enologic adjuvants such as enzymes, tannins and selected yeasts.

Our choices are always led by observation. With regard to the wine celler we have noticed and felt that our grapes required a less harsh treatment, more gentle and specific. This was the starting idea for the use of small 10Hl fermenters- where the temperature naturally stays lower during the wine-making process - and for manually submerging the floating cap, a technique which is less invasive than drawing the fermenting must off near the bottom and pumping it back over the cap. the submersion technique guarantees an improved extraction of the polyphenolic components.

The grapes are picked by hand in small baskets to avoid damaging them during transport. On arrival at the wine cellar, the grape berries are separated from the stalks and from this moment onwards each small 10Hl fermenter follows its own course, free from prestablished protocols that set fermation time frames.

Our role has therefore become that of being sensitive interpreters who, thanks to modern knowledge, can manage the fermentations in a non invasive way, offering the consumer wines that are genuine ambassadors of the terroir, arising from an exclusively natural process.