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Organic Methods at the Fasoli Gino Vineyard

© Carolan Nathan

The recent IOWE celebrated the emergence of more and more winemakers dedicating themselves not only to their own but to the well being of humanity. I have already written about a number of these people, each one manifesting passion for the work he is involved in.

Although I had interviewed Natolino Gino on his previous visit, it was very tempting for me to ask pertinent questions regarding his ongoing direction in the Organic Wine business. He and his son’s faces lit up and, once again, struggling between his Italian and little English and my little Italian and mucho English we came up with the following:

Natalino informed me that Italy was the first country to use more hectares for the cultivation of organic wines. Besides the growing of organic grapes, many vegetables are being grown without pesticides and chemicals in totally organic soil.

Grapes are harvested by hand and picked early in the morning. After a few hours the grapes arrive at the winery in cases. The grape skin and juice are divided from the stems and soft pressed at a low temperature. The best part of juice is then placed in steel tanks at a temperature of about 5 degrees centigrade. The juice is filtered before fermentation and, at this point, the juice is clear and clean. The process is very important for both the perfume and taste of the wine. Fermentation starts with the help of wine from a previous selected year, first in a small tank and then, after 20 days, the juice is placed in a big tank where it ferments for 20 to 25 days at a temperature of 15 – 17 degrees centigrade. Each day sample tastings are carried out.

At the end of fermentation Bentonite, which is a herb not an animal product, is added to clean the wine of impurities. After one month, the wine is filtered again, this time through paper (cellulose). Now the wine is perfectly clean but before bottling, it is put in a special tank at a temperature of about 5 degrees centigrade under 0 for about 10 to 12 days. This operation is called Tartaric Stabilization so the natural acids in the wine become solidified and are no longer in the wine itself.

The wine is filtered once more and is now ready for bottling but first checks are made to analyze the taste of the wine prior to bottling.

Weather has a big influence on the grapes; if conditions are good, the quality is the same. Rain can damage the grapes. Now many of the producers around the Fasoli Gino estate are growing according to organic standards and their grapes can be used to make both the new and the classic Wines.

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