Di Fillipo
Located in Umbria, central Italy, opposite the hills of Assisi, an area of 30 hectares. 12 hectares worked with horses, with the aim of moving to the entire estate as quickly as possible. Organic since 1994. Following the change in European legislation in 2007 (Eu reg. 834/2007), reflection on organic and decision to switch to biodynamics in 2009.
Still people of convictions. Which company do you want to develop? At the risk of going against the grain and in opposition to purely accounting logic, the desire to put man and nature back at the center of concerns. Roberto has indeed carried out a study in collaboration with the University of Perrugia:
- working the soil with a horse costs 200 โฌ per hectare, 80 โฌ returning to the farmer
- working the soil with a tractor costs 120 โฌ per hectare, 30 โฌ returning to the farmer
Do we want to enrich tractor manufacturers and continue to develop society towards a purely economic model or do we want a fairer society where people have work?
Another difference, he says, laughing, is that with the tractor, you turn off the engine and you can drink a beer, while with the horse, you have to stay all year round. take care of him. Although small in size, the domain occupies about 25 full-time equivalents.
And Roberto having to rack his brains to develop couplings, knowledge having almost disappeared.
The importance of soil
The philosophy of Vini di Filippo begins in the vineyard: convinced that high quality grapes can only be produced by working with care and having respect for the principles and rhythms of nature and the soil. Everything is connected, complex relationships exist between the different components of the ecosystem. If quality products are desired, a balance between soils, plants and productivity must be found.
Horses are used to avoid making the soil too compact but also to generate compost which will then be used to fertilize the soil. Another companion used to improve the soil: geese ... a hundred geese are released in the spring to eat the grass present between the vines and fertilize the soil. Regarding the plants, 22 different kinds of plants are sown between the vines, with the same objective, to improve the environment of the vineyard so that the grapes are of the highest quality!
All this allows to have quality wines, based on grape juice and not all kinds of additives. A bottle from di Filippo is what wine should always be: fermented grape juice!
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http://vinidifilippo.com/en/