Sustainability
An ongoing journey. Step by step, it's a path we have chosen believing it's the only possible way forward.
Our path
From an agronomic point of view, we follow integrated pest management protocols and have obtained SQNPI (National Integrated Production Quality System) certification, with ultra-low input of systemic insecticides. Over ten years ago, Castello di Grumello was the first vineyard in Valcalepio to adopt the cover crop method, which protects the soil and makes it more fertile.
The woods
The Castle's woods – rich in chestnut and hornbeam trees – cover an area of almost 20 hectares surrounding the vineyards and provide valuable moisture and biodiversity within the estate, naturally regulating temperature. Initially the woodland was cleared by removing weeds and thinning the undergrowth, and since then trees such as elder, mulberry and blackthorn have been planted.
Orchards
Much attention has been lavished on our fruit trees, especially the older ones, to create gradual flowering and fruiting. This not only enriches the landscape from a visual perspective, it also attracts different insects and birds throughout the year to keep pests away from the vineyards.
A perfect habitat
Not all dead trees are removed. Some of them are left in place to create a suitable environment for fungi, bacteria and nocturnal predators that need hollow trees. Ivy plants are allowed to thrive, as their winter flowering creates a perfect habitat for pollinators, especially bees.
Light bottles
We use lighter glass bottles of no more than 550 g in weight, self-assembly cardboard boxes that require no metal staples or adhesive tape, and recyclable aluminium caps. Vineyard tools are battery-powered and we have many rainwater butts to harvest rainwater used in the vine shoot nursery or for washing machinery.
Biodiversity containers
We are refurbishing the vineyards' 18th-century dry-stone walls, because they help to regulate temperature. They are also valuable biodiversity containers, as many small insects, flowers and plants can live in the cracks.
We’ve also created a vine shoot nursery, so that the shoots can acclimatise to the conditions on the estate before joining the vineyards.