Agenda

APRIL 2021

Biopass, the passport for life in the soil

A good wine comes from a vibrant ground: if the soils are rich in flora and fauna, the vine root system will be in balance and produce better.

But how to "measure" this biodiversity?

The Biopass Project (acronym for Biodiversità, Paesaggio, Ambiente, Suolo e Società, i.e. Biodiversity, Landscape, Environment, Soil and Society) is the solution. Carried out by the SATA Agronomy Agency, this sensory research aims at creating a real "identity card" of every single parcel, which confirms the goodness of our actions and helps us better manage the vineyard ecosystem. Some fellow producers requested the analysis of some plots, but for us it was important to have a complete mapping and to examine in detail all Ronco Calino vineyards.

The study consisted of a first visual soil assessment by taking samples from a root-deep excavation. The agronomists analyzed structure, texture, porosity, color, presence of surface stagnation zones, crust, erosion, and herbaceous cover.

Then, they focused on measuring copper and organic matter content. The results are satisfactory: copper residues in the soils are well below the alarm threshold (100ppm) and decrease with depth, reducing the risk of groundwater pollution.

Thanks to what emerged on the organic matter, we identified the most "suffering" soils and enriched them with organic compost and green manure.

The last stage of the analysis concerned the arthropodofauna, that is to say which and how many forms of life inhabit the subsoil. Here we made an important discovery: in one of our vineyards, the only case in Franciacorta, we found the rare and delicate cosmopolitan pseudoscorpion. The mere presence of such a fragile organism confirms the healthfulness of the soil.

The environment is our first partner in wine production. Therefore, we want to know the "inhabitants" of the soils and work holistically in the vineyard, respecting that population. More than the nutrients or the site of the vineyard, it is the life that characterizes it that makes the difference.