For a good 10 years now, the Bocale estate, a wine producer with just under 6 hectares of vines at Montefalco in the Province of Perugia, has been committed to reducing its impact on the environment, making a significant contribution by using “clean” energy.
«2020 will be our tenth year of energy self-sufficiency. Thanks to our photovoltaic panels», explains Valentino Valentini, the company’s owner, «we in fact succeed in producing all the necessary energy for our electrically-powered winery machinery». This plant, which produces up to 10KWh of electricity, allows the estate to be entitled to an incentive for its overall energy costs and to save around 2,000 € a year, against an initial investment of 45,000 €.
Bocale’s is no small commitment, because the company has also installed a column for recharging electric vehicles. «In this way», Valentino continues, «whoever comes to visit our winery or for a tasting can recharge their electric car while they are here». This project has been put into practice with the cooperation of EnelX and the Sagrantino Wine Road.
Valentino is also taking steps to obtain Vegan Friendly certification for his wines, which contain no trace of animal derivatives, eggs or dairy products: yet another effort to keep his customers satisfied.
Bocale is an outstanding example of a top-quality, artisanal wine producer that respects its terroir and environment, and the people who have lived and worked there for generations: no herbicides are used in the vineyard, thus ensuring grapes devoid of any chemical residues. Also, grass and other plants are left to grow between the vine rows, in order to reduce mechanical operations, erosion and runoff of water. The vineyard is treated using the technique of green manuring (generally with tick-beans) and the fertility of the soil is reintegrated with organic and mineral fertilizers, without the use of chemical products.
«Our concept of environmental protection and integrated pest management», adds Valentini, «is based on respect for nature and for people».
In the winery, only native yeasts are used, and the wines undergo neither microfiltration nor any kind of stabilization. The wine thus obtained is the result of respect for climatic and other environmental cycles and the natural characteristics of the terroir.