LOOKING GOOD…SMART ORGANIC AGRICULTURE

This year the Marchese Luca Spinola vineyards were a sight to see in April, when they came into particularly colourful and abundant bloom. You may wonder how a vineyard can flower…the answer is simple: thanks to green manure, an old agrarian practice involving the sowing of grasses, either all of the same type or a mixture of different grasses, which, after flowering, are dug into the soil to provide a completely natural fertiliser. The primary advantage of green manure for the vineyard is that it improves soil fertility naturally, as well as controlling weeds and erosion, all to the benefit of biodiversity.

Green manure, in other words, is an essential fertilisation method in organic agriculture and viticulture, since soil nutrients are not in endless supply and, however rich, will be depleted over time and need to be replaced to keep the soil “alive”.

Instead of using synthetic fertilisers, practitioners of organic agriculture like the Marchese Luca Spinola estate prefer natural techniques handed down through the generations like green manure: a method that keeps the vineyards in the best of health and looking good!