Why we have chosen the path of sustainable production and organic production
The road to sustainability is a direction that we have chosen to adopt in the company for over 10 years, not only for practices related to winemaking processes, from the field to the winery, but also in all the initiatives to which I participate or promote in person.
A choice that was born from two main principles:
- The very strong connection with the territory:
- we are pieces of a puzzle, it is fundamental to understand this. We are not the authors of a wine, but actors of nature: we help plants to grow, like children and we are in contact with something alive: the Earth, the wine and all that surrounds them. Wine is a vital force: rich in micro-organisms without which it could not evolve. This is why we have chosen to orient ourselves towards sustainability based on a strong sense of responsibility towards the earth and the coming generations.
- Sustainability has to start from within:
- we can not use it like a dress to make ourselves more beautiful: there must be a soul, a heart that beats, we must believe in it even if sometimes it is about making choices that apparently seem anti-economic in the logic of an immediate profit.
Today, Josetta Saffirio is proudly a certified organic CCPB company, whose sustainable processes are approved by Ecoprowine.
In a period in which the demand and consumption of healthy and natural food, obtained with a low environmental impact, grows every day, I reinforce an important choice that I made many years ago with the aim of respecting our territory.
“We have been growing vineyards in Monforte d’Alba for over two centuries and five generations, trying to express the territory through our wines. Harvest after harvest, we sink our roots in this land of Langa”
What it means to produce wine in a sustainable way
I believe that producing wine means treating the vineyards with respect for the land and the responsibility to leave to our children the precious heritage I received from my parents: a unique and generous territory that produces wines of exquisite elegance and exceptional longevity, famous all over the world.
The vineyard and its work must not be an element detached from the landscape, an instrument for exploiting the land but, on the contrary, something through which to start a virtuous process of enrichment of the territory itself. The plant symbol par excellence for those who produce wine, the vineyard, becomes the main vehicle of care of the territory on which it is located. This change of vision allows us to produce better wines and at the same time do good to our environment. The challenge is this: the production of high quality wines must be linked to sustainable processes in the field and in the cellar.
How I put this in practice
Starting from these assumptions, I decided to put this concepts into everyday activities. Our wine comes from a care of vineyards that does not include chemicals. Any type of product that may have a negative impact on our land has been banned. We only use organic fertilizers that, unlike the first ones, allow to enrich the soil and to nourish our grapes in a “natural” way. Also in our vineyards we use grassing, letting the grass grow to combat soil erosion and make the vineyard more liveable and passable. We use special prototypes of tractors that, with their reduced weight, contribute to not press excessively on the ground, avoiding its crush.
Fieldwork is just one aspect of my business, which is why I have supported a sustainable renewal process that involves the entire company.
- In 2006 we started designing the new winery, a structure designed to be integrated into the rural landscape and reduce heat exchange, isolating the perimeter with natural cork. The building has been designed to optimize work and resources. On the ground floor we find the whole part concerning the first processing of the grapes: from the harvest to the fermentations. At that point the wine for fall is transferred underground, where it will silently age in the barrels.
- In 2009 we designed and created the Biopark and every year we increase the area of managed forest and this allows us, on one hand to protect the local flora and fauna, on the other to reduce our carbon impact.
- In 2010 we inaugurated the new photovoltaic system that allows us to reduce CO2 emissions by 13,000 kg every year.
- We use 90% recycled glass for our bottles, shorter corks and a thinner cardboard for packaging.
Not only in the company: my sustainable initiatives
In order to promote and raise awareness for the environment, the company organizes social and educational activities that also involve children, to promote the idea that the land is an asset and as such it deserves respect and attention. We focus very much on these activities that aim to raise awareness of the new generations on the beauty of nature.
For the IED students of Turin I created a contest on the theme of sustainability starting from the waste materials of our cellar. This is how the ReWineD project was born: converting what is no longer useful for our production purposes into new functional design objects for other industries or fields.
Another important initiative undertaken is that of Adopt a Row, that allows all those who wish to be responsible for their own row to see it grow day by day. A way to involve wine lovers in the care of the territory as well
Now it is on you
One thing that I often say to all those who visit our cellars is that sustainability processes require the intervention of the final consumer as well! Yes, you! Every time you buy a wine, try to read the label and understand if the wine you are drinking is good for the environment. Sipping an ethical and sustainable product gives a double satisfaction and allows you to contribute to a virtuous wine culture. The future of our planet also passes from here.