Procedure guidelines for producing VinNatur wine

VINNATUR WINES HAVE BEEN PESTICIDE FREE SINCE 2008.
NOW THE PROCEDURE GUIDELINES HAVE ARRIVED, WITH CHECKS IN THE VINEYARDS AND WINERIES, SOLID GUARANTEES FOR THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO DRINK NATURAL

The general meeting of VinNatur approves the “Procedure guidelines for producing VinNatur wine”. The check plan will be implemented in collaboration with certified institutes recognised by Mipaaf. After 8 years of chemical analysis in the search for pesticide residues, an additional step has been taken as a guarantee for those who drink natural wines. 

On Friday 15th July, the general meeting of VinNatur – Natural winemakers association approved the PROCEDURE GUIDELINES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF VINNATUR WINE proposed by the board of directors. Angiolino Maule, founder and current president of the association explained: “These guidelines for production, and the check plan that completes them, are an further step towards clarity and transparency for those who choose to drink our wines. We have been analysing the wines produced by all associates every year since 2008, and at our own cost, to verify if they are free from the active principle residues of pesticides (we test for 200 types) and anyone who is found positive for three years must leave the association. We also check for the presence of sulphur dioxide to better understand how the winemaker works in the winery.

This document, on which we have been concentrating for more than a year, formalises the procedures that are permitted and not permitted in the vineyard and winery, according to our view of winemaking. Now that we have received approval from our associates, we can take the next step, namely the definitive version of the CHECK PLAN that we are elaborating in collaboration with several certified institutions that are recognised by the MIPAAF; the purpose of the plan is to make the procedure guidelines be respected. The guidelines will become applicable from the 2017 vintage. Each associate, at least once a year, will be visited by the monitoring organisations which will verify the winemaker’s conduct, both in the vineyard and in the winery.

The checks are a fundamental point because, in our opinion, facts are better than words: those who choose to drink natural wine have the right to receive tangible guarantees on what they will find in the bottle. Declaring oneself to be a “natural winemaker” is not enough – one must be truly aware of the great responsibility that there is regarding the health of enthusiasts and clients, and act accordingly.

These procedure guidelines are a dynamic instrument that will be verified and updated in the future, according to the collaboration with the monitoring institutions and the continuance of experience in checks carried out at the various companies; the objective is not to punish but to increase the knowledge and culture of our producers so that they can handle difficulties and/or problems that may appear while working with awareness. The association is constantly committed to supplying its associates with technical-scientific support. With this support, they can respect the regulations we have defined by accessing the results and experiences of the various research projects and experimental tests that we have been carrying out for years in collaboration with university researchers and professionals. They can also gain support through technical study meetings.”

Before the general meeting on Friday 15th July, VinNatur organised a training meeting for its associates on oenology, where matters such as: “Specific and intraspecific biodiversity in spontaneous fermentation” by Dr. Giacomo Busconi, agronomist and researcher on vinification microbiology (FoodMicroTeam) – “Fears in the winery, reflection on the stability of preserved wine” by the oenologist Dr. Maurizio Donadi – “The defects of wine, which instruments do we have to control or prevent them?” by the oenologist Dr. Franco Giacosa were faced.

Angiolino Maule finished by saying: “Producing VinNatur natural wine means having the courage to face many risks without the comfort of ready, easy solutions. It means accepting commitments and obligations, which are even moral. This is why being a VinNatur associate is a choice, not an obligation. These procedure guidelines are not a point of arrival, but rather where we want to depart from. Our objective is to give life to dynamic and lively growth that is open to the contributions of the scientific world. In this way we can all grow healthy vines that support environmental sustainability and man.”

 

Go to THE PROCEDURE GUIDELINE FOR PRODUCING VINNATUR WINE