Farming Practices: Ethical/Sustainable Viticulture

Giannoni Selections focuses on producers that demonstrate maximum respect for terroir, tradition, the environment and above all, the final consumer. By using organics and biodynamics as their approach to viticulture, these select growers omit systemic herbicides and pesticides, recognizing that the health and quality of their soils are as important as terroir.

Organic Viticulture/Winemaking

Organic farming can be defined as a set of standards that delineate viticultural methods and materials permitted in the vineyards and wine cellar. This more ecological form of farming aims to protect the consumer by disallowing synthetic or genetically modified products to enter into the production process. Practices include composting, natural pest control, crop rotation, and the use of manure in order to encourage biodiversity of the soil and authenticity of the final product.

For more information on the regulations of organic farming within Europe please visit the European Commission’s site.

Biodynamic Farming

Biodynamics is agricultural approach developed by Rudolf Steiner in the 1920s as a response to mainly German and Polish farmers’ concerns about the deteriorating quality of their crops and soils. Rather than using industrial chemicals and fertilizers that were becoming increasingly prescribed, Steiner introduced the idea of applying composts, manures, herbal, and mineral preparations in order to reconstitute the life of soils for a more sustainable type of farming.  This holistic method considers all aspects of the farm—the land, plants, animals, and people—as a connected ecosystem. In the purest sense, it seeks to treat all aspects of this living system locally by using only the farm’s resources to promote growth and renewal. Biodynamics also use Maria Thun’s astrological growing calendar to bring to bear the earth’s cosmic forces within the ecosystem. For a more comprehensive understanding of biodynamic methods used in the vineyard and cellar, please reference Demeter, the international certifying body for all biodynamic products.

(*Please note that growers do not always indicate organic or biodynamic certification on their labels.)