SUSTAINABILITY

GUIDELINES OF MARENCO VINEGROWING AND WINEMAKING

 

SUSTAINABILITY

SOIL
1. Erosion prevention thru permanent sod of the vineyard soil.
2. Organic matter amendment in the soil thru leguminous green manure.
3. Ban of invasive plowing.
4. Soil rest of minimum one year between removal of the old vineyard and plantation of the new one.
5. Preplantation manure with organic products used in minimal quantity , calculated on the base of the specific need of the specific soil.
6. Fertilization of the vineyard with minimal doses calculated according to the need of the specific vineyard.

 

 

VINE

1. Planting vineyards so that the rows run along the slope rather than up and down (need to be worked manually , but prevent erosion).
2. Analysis on grapes and musts at harvest to verify the absence of pesticide residues.
3. Pest management executed exclusively with biodegradable products declared not harmful to the environment and human health.
4. Monitoring thru weather stations installed in the vineyards of the specific environmental conditions. Consequent eventual phytosanitary treatment according to the specific needs (no calendar treatment).
5. Adoption of the practice of sexual confusion as an alternative to insecticide treatment whenever possible (eg moth).

 

 

ENERGY
1. Use of bottles produced with recycled glass.
2. Use of light weight bottles to save glass and transportation costs.
3. No irrigation of vineyards. Save water and respect the natural course of the season.
4. Use of concrete tanks to fine young red wines ,saving energy thru natural climatization.
5. Production of electricity by photovoltaic panels installed on the roof of the cellar.

 

 

PEOPLE AND TERRITORY
1. Constant investment in research and development, improving the agronomic and oenological practices considering the climate change and the continuous aim to excellence.
2. Manpower recruited directly. Very limited use of cooperatives also during harvest.
3. Continuous training of qualified personnel.
4. Protection of indigenous varieties of the area (eg Caricalasino, Albarossa) performed by planting vineyards, vinification in purity of the variety, and the subsequent communication and marketing of the relative wine.

 

“SCRAPONA 100 PUNTI” PROJECT

PREMISE
The Scrapona 100 Punti Project aims to give a contribution to the positioning of Moscato d’Asti among the best wines on the planet. Moscato d’Asti Scrapona originates from the Scrapona hill, located in teh Bagnario Valley in Strevi. Quality is made in the vineyard, and this is even more true with Moscato d’Asti. It is a unique wine, with the alcoholic fermetation interrupted when reaching 5% alcol to prerserve natural sweetness and aromatic profile. When bottled it is ready for immediate cosumption, but it also ages well for up to 10 years.

Moscato is cultivated on our hills since centuries. We have the opportunity and the responsibility to continue this tradition, improving and innovating the specific coltivation techniques, to meet the request of our customers looking for excellence, and to react to the climate changes we are living.
Every product that is now part of Tradition was born once from an innovation. We feel the need to innovate in order to preserve the important heritage of our Tradition

 

 

GOALS
Marenco has been making wines since 1925 and has always believed in the customer. Our work is aimed at offering sublime and unique sensations to those who taste one of our bottles. Therefore our objectives go beyond the vineyard and the cellar, we focus on the characteristics of the Scrapona wine, in this case the aromas, the taste, the quality of the bubble, the healthiness, the duration over time.

The focus is on the aromatic precursors, micro elements in the grapes
The aromas of Moscato are strictly tied to the Monotherpenes, volatile molecules that give to Moscato the classic varietal aromas. The therpen more present in Moscato is the Linalol. Our work is finalized to to maximize the quantity of Linalol and the other therpenes, depending on the climatic characteristics of the year.
The taste of Moscato is the result of several factors, first of all the sweetness, then the acidity, the minerality, the aromatic aftertaste. Here the goal is to match the technical maturation with the terpenic one, to harvest grapes at the peak of sweetness, acidity and free terpenes. The duration over time of Moscato is influenced, among other things, by the heritage of glycosylated terpenes, initially tied to sugars. These constitute an aromatic reservoir that over time is released and gives Scrapona complex and interesting aromas. The bubbles are a very important element. The satisfaction of the palate is obtained with a delicate and persistent bubble. We obtain it in the vineyard thanks to the nitrogenous substances which, once in the wine, help to retain the bubbles and to integrate them elegantly. Last factor, not in order of importance, is the healthyness and sustainability of the wine. An important part of the study is to produce a stable Scrapona using a very low dose of added sulphites.

SCRAPONA VINEYARD
Il vigneto Scrapona si trova nella valle Bagnario di Strevi. Il terreno è costituito per il 50% da sabbia, e per la rimanenza da limo e argilla in parti uguali. E’ abbastanza ricco di calcare, è esposto a sudest e ha una pendenza massima superiore al 30% . La parte alta si trova a 310 metri s.l.m. L’impianto è del 1996, le citi sono di moscato bianco al 100% e sono state ottenute tramite selezione massale dal vigneto precedentemente presente. La superficie del vigneto è di 5,7 ettari, la distanza dal mare in linea d’aria è di 38 km.

WORK METHOD

We have divided the vineyard into 7 lots of similar size, three in the upper part and four in the lower part. Starting from the 2016 wine season we have studied and adopted distinct cultivation techniques for each single lot in the vineyard. We then measured and compared the characteristics of the grapes in each individual lot during the harvest. The comparison between the lots is particularly significant as the vineyard has the same exposure and the same characteristics in its entirety.

The Moscato from Scrapona is entirely bottled and vinified in the Marenco di Strevi cellar. This allows us to follow and appreciate the evolution of the parameters over time.

 

 

RESULTS

Topics analyzed by the Thesis are:
    • less rainwater availability: how to work with less water, how to retain available water, how the aromatic profile behaves according to the amount of water received (irrigation tests)
    • higher average temperature: how to protect the bunch from sunburn, ensuring the right lighting that favors the synthesis of therpenes
    • temperatura media piu alta: come proteggere il grappolo dalle scottature, garantendo la giusta illuminazione che favorisce la sintesi dei terpeni
    • Definition of the right pickind date: tests of harvests in differentiated times
    • grassing and grass management
    • production load: grape thinning tests to identify the optimal production load
    • research of limiting factors and their subsequent optimization. For example, it was found that readily assimilable nitrogen is limiting for the synthesis of linalol

 

For a more detailed description of the activities and results, please refer to the following documents:
Tesi Giovanni Boccaccio – file PDF
Tesi Giovanni Furlini – file PDF
Presentazione tesi Giovanni Furlini – file PDF
Convegno Moscato di Strevi – file PDF