Several Italian companies in the wine sector, and not only, aim for sustainability. But what is sustainability in the wine field? To better illustrate this, let us consider the hills of the Prosecco DOC and DOCG production area.
This is an area that lies in the northeast of Italy, and more specifically on the territories of 5 provinces of Veneto (Treviso, Venezia, Padova, Vicenza and Belluno) and 4 provinces of Friuli Venezia Giulia (Gorizia, Pordenone, Trieste and Udine). It is one of the most beautiful areas of the Italian peninsula, which the local producers have decided to protect. Indeed, the hills of Prosecco are under consideration to become a Unesco heritage site.
That is why, in its 2017 wine guide, the Prosecco DOC Consortium decided to abolish the use of the main synthetic molecules found in plant protection products used in the vineyards.
The Prosecco DOCG production areas want to adopt a production protocol for all the producers which restricts the use of certain active substances and abolishes weeding with synthetic molecules. This suggests a series of guidelines aimed at cultivating the soils without any chemicals. In addition to the production protocol, many companies go beyond the recommendations, like the one that decided to plant a 3 hectare forest to offset greenhouse gas emissions during production.
This reduces the use of synthetic substances to control the adversities of the vine by improving the environment and working conditions for workers, all while respecting the economic sustainability.
