Terradonnà, a Tuscan winery at the forefront of the production of high quality wines, faces the challenges of climate change in the vineyard with awareness and proactivity.
An unexpected enemy: Rising temperatures, prolonged drought and extreme weather events put the vine and the balance of the terroir to the test. We observed an advance in the vegetative cycle, with increasingly earlier harvests, and a change in the aromatic profile of the grapes. The diseases that afflict the vine have also become more frequent and aggressive, often due to a weakening of the plant’s immune defenses due to climate stress.
Adaptation and innovation: To counteract these effects, we are adopting several strategies:
- Constant monitoring: Through weather sheds, open data and pheromone traps we are able to have a real-time snapshot of the situation in the vineyard. Fundamental for planning and predicting pathogen attacks and critical periods for the vine.
- Sustainable management of the vineyard: Organic cultivation, control with pheromones, biotechnology and green manure to improve soil fertility and plant vitality without persistence of products in the soil.
- Microclimate and biodiversity: Thanks to trees and hedges, shaded areas are created which drastically lower the soil temperature and therefore the stress for the plant. This solution has a further advantage: promoting biodiversity, this alternation of different plants allows you to have a stable population of pollinators and a lively and functional ecosystem also to mitigate the action of harmful animals.
New opportunities: Terradonnà also sees climate change as a stimulus to innovation and the search for new solutions. We are investing to develop new cultivation and winemaking techniques. The fight against climate change is not only a quantitative increase in efficiency but also a major investment in product quality because a great wine is also and above all the fruit of a healthy, lively vineyard that is increasingly integrated with the natural ecosystem.
Towards a sustainable future: Terradonnà’s commitment is to preserve the environment and the quality of its wines for future generations. The company fights for sustainable viticulture that is able to adapt to climate changes and enhance the Suvereto area.
