Ecosystem

Ecosystem

Each choice we make is carefully curated. In our culture and everyday life, everything is decided according to our ethic for the future based on a concept of sustainability. Sustainability in its broadest sense, focused on responsible progress that won’t impact on future generations, firmly based on three foundations: environmental sustainability, social sustainability and economic sustainability.

Sustainable existence is a concept that goes beyond environmental protection, to embrace social and economic sustainability as well.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Our vineyard is a complex and colourful environment. We seek and cultivate biodiversity, adhere to the SQNPI [Integrated Crop Management National Quality System] protocol, we have abandoned synthetic insecticides and use organic control, and we have installed ecological infrastructures. These are just a few of our choices in support of the ecosystem.

SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

We are not alone: there is a close-knit community around our company. The people, companies and entities in the region look to us as the custodians of Friulian identity. Values that we uphold by joining this community, supporting concerts, films and art-related initiatives.

ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

Existing as a company means having and maintaining the ability to generate economic growth and jobs for other people. This is vital for the advancement of our values over time and for the next generations. It is not just us, we are a family of people who move in the same direction, so we can grow together.

We protect and encourage biodiversity.

We tirelessly work to understand each and every plot of our land. There are portions of vineyard, each unique from the other and each demanding a different approach. Our goal is to create plants that grow in harmony with a specific ecosystem. This is the only way they can become an integral part of the land and produce grapes that are a true expression of the territory.

The protection and increase of biodiversity results from a series of careful choices: the analysis of the soils to preserve fertility; elimination of mineral fertilisers in favour of organic ones; biological control; the decision to leave the flowers between the rows. In addition we analyse the soil microbiome, use specific green manures based on the soil type, and practice agroforestry techniques, planting ecological areas close to the vineyard with certified native biotypes. These include Cornelian cherry, dog rose, hawthorn and privet. Nothing is left to chance: we have alternated these species with grafted antique local Friulian varieties of fruiting plants that have almost been forgotten, such as the perpetoral, mel da canonica, and the cicigolis apple tree, which we have planted according to blossoming times to provide shelter and food for all pollinating insects, such as the bees and other pollinators. Today, our vineyards have an ecological area in addition to the flowers that are left to grow between the rows. It’s an environment fit for life.

Zorzettig has adhered to the SQNPI protocol since 2016, and in recent years has nurtured ecological infrastructure for specific biodiversity. The plants were provided by the Forestry Corps nursery in Tarcento, thanks to a partnership with ERSA, the regional agency for rural development in Friuli.

The winery and vineyard have signed up to the non-profit Biodiversity Care project. Under the guidance of our consultant agronomist Antonio Noacco, together with a team of colleagues and in collaboration with the University of Udine, the project aims to increase biodiversity in the vineyard and prove the effectiveness of biological control through the increase of predatory insects and other beneficial organisms in vineyards managed by alternating mowing.

Equally, waste processing is also carefully managed and handled through the correct separation and disposal of materials from production (stalks, marc, glass, paper and cardboard, wood, plastic containers, etc.) and simple delivery to waste collection and recycling centres.

“When we make the decision to create an environment in which plants live in harmony with a specific ecosystem, those same plants become integral to it and produce grapes that are a true expression of the land. We have to remember that the picture perfect green vineyard is a one-dimensional environment. Instead, it’s our job is to recreate a more complex and colourful one.
Antonio Noacco, agronomist

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