The Agricultural Body and
the Rhythms of Nature
"The search for authenticity
starts with the courage
to be oneself!"
The Agricultural Body and
the Rhythms of Nature
From John....
.....a John
So I owe a lot to him, not only the farm, but also a great respect for the plants and the land....."
"It is in the giving that we receive."
St. Francis of Assisi
We have really given a lot (and are still doing so) in creating a self-sufficient corporate agricultural organism, but it really is true that“it is in the giving that we receive“!
Today we have on the farm the indispensable elements needed to cultivate while minimizing dependence on the outside. Biologically, there are plants that attract each other and others that repel each other; we have figured out which plants are the “friends” of vines. The principle applies to the plant world as well: ” The self is also the other, the other is also the self” (Chuang-tzu).
For this vineyards cannot be well cultivated in isolation, but must be placed in a context where woods, meadows, wetlands, vineyards, hedgerows, pastures, and arable land can be considered true organs. Each with its own function, they are able to interact with each other and create the harmony necessary to maintain the health of the whole agricultural organism and its components.
The Vineyards
Currently there are five vineyards, fortunately all located in a sparsely man-made area : the Butterfly Vineyard, the Pratomagno Vineyard, the Well Vineyard, the Nightingale Vineyard and the Nightingale Vineyard East side.
In fact, these plants while close to each other benefit from different exposures and soils.
This certainly contributes to the distinctive personality of the wines.
North/south oriented rows are raised with maximum respect for sap circulation while minimizing pruning cuts.
In addition, for the choice of plants to be grown, we researched the best combinations in relation to the types of soils and environment with the ultimate goal of obtaining wines of extreme elegance.
Training systems: single and double spurred cordon, guyot and sapling.
The method and life processes
The priority goal of our interventions is to activate the processes that stimulate and make vital natural connections. This is possible through healing, in harmony with local conditions, of the fertility of the soil, cultivated plants, domestic animals and, above all, of cosmic energy coming mainly from the sun.
The timing of interventions to better influence life processes are punctuated by the rhythms of nature itself, the result of an ever-deepening understanding of life processes. The cultivation system starts from the consideration that each soil, even within the same vineyard, is different from all others. This entails specific accurate workings in respect of the plants.
The Method and life processes
The priority goal of our interventions is to activate the processes that stimulate and make vital natural connections. This is possible through healing, in harmony with local conditions, of the fertility of the soil, cultivated plants, domestic animals and, above all, of cosmic energy coming mainly from the sun.
The times of intervention to better influence life processes are marked by the rhythms of nature itself, the result of an ever-deepening understanding of life processes. The cultivation system starts from the consideration that each soil, even within the same vineyard, is different from all others. This entails specific accurate workings in respect of the plants.
The momentum of the natural sustainable agricultural method
We believe that plants not only need a suitable habitat but also need vital soil that accommodates roots (the real brain of plants). That is why we are very attentive to soil fertility. This is the basic concept we learned from biodynamic agriculture , for Steiner, to fertilize means to “vivify” the soil.
The basis of our natural agricultural method sustainable, there are many insights taken from other organic-natural farming methods and techniques , such as those recommended by Albert Howard, Ciril Hopkins, Lydia and Claude Bourguignon, Masanadu Fukuoka, Bill Mollison, Alex Podolinsky, Jerone Irving Rodale and many others.
However, we believe that in order to apply the most effective and environmentally friendly cultivation techniques even before the method, careful observation of all nature around us is necessary, and observation cannot be delegated to a machine.
"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest of intentions."
Kahlil Gibran
Biodiversity to protect
nature:
an unavoidable need
Fungi, bacteria, viruses, and insects can create serious damage to vineyards. The goal of chemical or integrated farming is to minimize treatments with the aim of killing pathogens. In doing so, a healthy environment is not created, which is why diseases continue to be increasingly difficult to eliminate.
Instead of focusing on destroying (always momentary anyway !) disease triggers, our philosophy aims to develop in plants both vitality and resilience against adversity.
In striving to achieve this goal we also pay the utmost care to the preservation of biodiversity. Especially with regard to insects useful in viticulture such as ladybugs, bees, bumblebees, pollinator flies (very fond of aphids), phytoseed mites.
We very much believe that the system is not in harmony as the number of insect varieties is less than a hundred species.
The presence of a wide variety of insects implies the existence of many other animals starting with birds. It is precisely the become the true guardians of the vineyard by protecting it from many pests. For this reason, tillage is very
light favoring permanent grassing. In disease control we try as much as possible to use naturally derived products, such as plant macerates, extracts and infusions, wisely and appropriately employed.
OUR COMMITMENT
Our commitment to the care and defense of the ecosystem is realized in the constant focus on maintaining optimal conditions to accommodate biodiversity.
For this reason, we try to encourage flowering and pollination of various essences, especially in pastures. We also try to maintain adequate agroforestry areas by safeguarding and strengthening hedgerows and vegetation barriers.
In the pursuit of the primary goal of enhancing the development of sustainability and biodiversity, we attach great importance to the care of local cultivars even where the convenience in terms of quantity is very low, think for example of the production of the native variety of “Colorino del Valdarno”
Ie Grapes
The grapes we produce are simply the highest expression of our territory and our way of conceiving viticulture.
During their transformation, we take great care so that it is possible to find in the wines the strength and vitality of the fruit, the authenticity of taste, fragrance and the maximum perception of the place of origin.
That is why the fermentations in the cellar are spontaneous (without the use of yeasts, nutrients, tannins, external bacteria) and the entire aging process does not involve the use of oenological adjuvants of any kind.
THE CELLAR
The winery is located at the beginning of the medieval village of Campogialli, largely consisting of wooden and masonry barrels.
Fortunately, Grandfather John did not get infected by the steel “fever” that led in the 1970s and 1980s to the dismantling of the tanks that had traditionally been built on site with bricks since the late 19th century.
Brick tanks are definitely one of the best tools for obtaining more floral and fruity, yet long-lived wines. In brick barrels, wine vinifies and evolves sheltered from temperature changes and magnetic fields, in the presence of an albeit low but ever-present micro-oxygenation.
From the wooden tonneaux and masonry barrels, Pian del Pino organic artisanal wines are born. The winemaking process up to bottling is managed and completed with the winery’s winemaking equipment respecting the natural rhythms and clarifications.
