We are currently witnessing a trend in Spain that seeks to recover and revalue authentic Spanish terroirs, although, on many occasions, when speaking of ‘terroir’, of authenticity, the commitment to sustainable viticulture is omitted.
The International Biodiversity Day will be celebrated on May 22 and Spanish viticulture should make a real exercise of reflection. The 20th century has been disastrous for the biodiversity of the Spanish vineyard, starting with phylloxera, which caused a tremendous loss of varieties and biotypes, but, above all, the ‘industrialization’ of viticulture since the 1980s, with the introduction of standardized genetic material from nurseries, the replacement of native grapes with foreign ones and aggressive viticultural practices against the environment, has taken a tremendous toll.
It is difficult to justify the ‘terroir’ of a vineyard when the environment is not respected, the biodiversity that, like the vines themselves, acclimates and adapts to the environment, and forms part of the character, of the essence that the terroir transmits to the wines. One of the principles of organic agriculture is the promotion of biological diversity, in animal and plant species. Among the advantages are soil improvement (enhancing the availability of water and nutrients for the crop), pest and disease prevention (with beneficial organisms that eliminate or reduce damage) and environmental improvement of the vineyard.
For Familia Martínez Bujanda, the vineyard is our main heritage. Our legacy, with a trajectory of more than 125 years, is our vineyards and has been passed down from generation to generation. We will leave but the vineyard will still be there.
We cultivate organic plots without the use of copper at Finca Antigua and Finca Valpiedra, although a priori the climatic conditions (powdery mildew, mildew, moth…) make viticulture without the use of copper unadvisable, we have achieved them, and we can certify, with the accreditation of external companies, that all our wines are made from Valpiedra Estate (Rioja), Finca Antigua (La Mancha) and Montepedroso Farm (Rueda) have zero residues of synthetic products and heavy metals and that the biodiversity value of our farms is growing year after year..
Finca Antigua is one of the most important private flora and fauna reserves in Spain.We have several wines certified as organic and a large water reservoir of 40,000 cubic meters that collects rainwater with which we close the cycle of winery and field by-products. Finca Montepedroso is dug into the ground so that the temperature regulation is absolutely natural, which means a great energy saving considering that we only produce one white wine. Finally, Finca Valpiedra is a large reserve of flora and fauna and we regularly measure the biodiversity of the farm so that we can certify that it is increasing since we practice sustainable agriculture.
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