Sustainable Winery
Ricci Curbastro: a sustainable Farm Estate Winery
The Ricci Curbastro estate practices organic farming as a natural continuation of the various environmental impact reduction practices that have began over thirty years ago.
Since 2017 it has been among the first nine companies in Italy, first in Lombardy, certified as a “Sustainable Winery” for its commitment in environmental, economic and social terms according to the Equalitas standard.
Since 2017, the Ricci Curbastro estate has decided to start a program to achieve certification according to the SOPD Equalitas sustainability standard – SUSTAINABILITY OF THE WINE-GROWING CHAIN: ORGANIZATIONS, PRODUCTS, DESIGNATIONS OF ORIGIN (SOPD).
In order to pursue its mission, company management has established, as a general objective, to develop an action for continuous improvement of processes and products, involving in this improvement project all interested parties, from company staff to suppliers, to the community. Pursuing the achievement of the subtle balance between the various needs, including full customer satisfaction, cost optimization, personnel and work environment safety, creation of partnership relationships with suppliers and the local community, full respect for the environment and protection of resources.
“The lower expenditure of resources, the increase in the well-being of the interested parties and other «classic» aspects of the concept of sustainability must be supported, in my opinion, from an «original» element that resides in the fact of focusing also on the first part of the definition of sustainability (see Bruntland Report), that is the «guarantee of today», and therefore the maintenance of the pre-established oenological result, which cannot pass into subordinate but must have the same dignity as the second part of the definition («without compromising tomorrow»).” Riccardo Ricci Curbastro
The Three Lives of the Tree (2022)
Environmental, economical and ethical sustainability path.
From tree to barrique, from barrique to artificial nests built by inmates of the Penalty Institute of Alessandria (Piedmont). The virtuous cycle of wood in the name of recovering people and materials.
The oak wood of barrels and barriques, which comes from French state-owned forests managed in a sustainable way, is not always easily recyclable – the classic uses as tables or flower boxes discount the limit of often reduced spaces in homes as well as in public places – and this risks to interrupt the virtuous cycle. For us at Ricci Curbastro it was a matter of offering these oak staves a third life, after growing in the forest, which guarantees, thanks to solar energy, the “storage” in the wood of the carbon dioxide so dangerous for global warming and afterwards the use for several years as an ideal container for the aging of our Franciacorta and Curtefranca wines.
To start a process of recovering this wood, we have added the third pillar, that of ethical sustainability, to the concept of environmental and economic sustainability. The disused staves, wisely worked in the carpentry entirely managed by the inmates of the Pena Institute in Alessandria, were transformed into artificial nests for the company vineyards to host Great Tit, Black Redstart and other insectivores useful for the natural balance of the vineyards themselves, thus closing a cycle, that of wood, in the most natural way.
For this purpose, the Ricci Curbastro Agricultural Company activated in 2022 a collaboration with the Social Cooperative “Idee in fuga”, created with the aim of making the prisoners’ time at the “Cantiello e Gaeta” Penitentiary in Alessandria productive. The carpentry inside the prison allows inmates to acquire new skills that can offer job opportunities once the sentence is over and has been commissioned to produce the nests starting from the staves.
The detainees in Alessandria work six days a week, supported by the Penitentiary Police and expert volunteer carpenters with the aim of fulfilling orders from all over Italy by recovering materials and promoting a circular economy that uses recycled or discarded wood for defects. In 2019, an external carpentry was also set up to guarantee outgoing prisoners to be able to maintain the employment relationship and guarantee an income.
After having produced a few dozen artificial nests for insectivorous birds, the project will continue studying other recoveries of the staves.
The green kilometer (2020)
Among the cultivated fields of the Italian agricultural landscape the presence of hedges, trees and thickets populated with animal life was frequent.
The need for agricultural mechanization and the widening of country roads to make way for increasing traffic have effectively eliminated over 70% of rural hedges from the Italian landscape. Yet the ecological function of hedges is so important that sustainable agriculture is virtually impossible without their presence. Like a membrane around a cell, hedges have the function of physical isolation between different environments, of filters, of communication for the exchange of flora and fauna. They are also breeding grounds for predators of crop parasites such as insectivorous birds, mammals, hedgehogs, amphibians and reptiles. Mixed privet, elderberry and hawthorn hedges are particularly appreciated by bees also for their characteristic of providing nourishment when other flowers to forage are scarce.
We began our landscape restoration work, about 20 years ago, starting from the centuries-old hawthorn and mulberry hedge that is right in front of the estate. Covered with ivy and brambles, it had lost its charm, its original character, its genius loci and, above all, was in danger of disappearing due to the planned widening of the provincial road. Today it is a precious hinge between the road and the vineyard, the frame of an elegant photograph of our landscape.
Since then we have never stopped: the recovery of the Adro hedge along the Santella del Gröm vineyard and then the planting of new hedges with 487 Hawthorn plants (Crataegus monogyna) planted together with Broom, Dogrose, Cornel, Privet, Berberry, Euonymous , Buckthorn , Blackthorn for a total of other 150 plants.
We have also paid attention to the trees in rows along the hedges or in the groves kept on the farm (about 4,000 m2), White Mulberry and Black Mulberry, British Oak, Cherry, Field Maple, White Hornbeam, Chestnut, Turkey Oak, Ash, Oak, Wild service-tree, Black elderberry, Wicker willow, Holm oak, Austrian pine. 178 trees were planted from 2012 to 2021.
It is a work that does not end, every year we are engaged in pruning trees and hedges -elegance has its price- but especially where new vineyards are born, new plantations are planned.
In 2021 we reached 1000 meters of hedges but we feel well trained for new challenges!
Solar Energy (2008)
Energy from the sun to power the winery.
Since 2008, the winery produces electricity through solar panels installed on the rooftops. After a first experience of two years required to evaluate the efficiency of this system, in February 2010, the decision was reached to make the Ricci Curbastro Farm Estate Winery almost independent, from an energy viewpoint, through the installation of solar panels capable of producing up to 20 kWh.
The panels, which are perfectly integrated in the covering of winery rooftop, not only supply electricity, but also guarantee for further improvement in the isolation of the same covering by adding a second ventilated air space to the roof.
The panels are able to supply approximately 24,000 kWh /year, 80% of the energy consumed in a year by the company, considering that the production of electricity, such as from methane, involves the production of 0.57 kg of CO2 (carbon dioxide), we can prevent about 130 tons of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere.
During 2023, the choice of a new investment aimed at further strengthening the existing photovoltaic system, with a new capacity of 30.3 KwH, which will bring the company’s green electricity production capacity to an increase of 50% and will make it possible to heat and cool offices and the point of sale almost without using external energy, such as gas or electricity.
CO2, or carbon dioxide, is an acid oxide formed by a carbon atom bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is a fundamental substance in the life processes of plants and animals and is also considered one of the main greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. In 2007, an amount of about 0.038% (≈ 381 ppm) in volume of carbon dioxide was measured in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Despite its small concentration, CO2 is a key component of the Earth’s atmosphere, since – along with water vapor and methane – it traps infrared radiation from sunlight, reflecting it back toward the Earth’s surface (the so-called greenhouse effect), preventing the earth from cooling. Volcanoes were the first sources of atmospheric carbon dioxide on the newly formed Earth. Thanks to this, a climate was created that was favorable for the development of life. Today, volcanoes release into the atmosphere about 130 to 230 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, but this amount represents less than 1% of the total amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by human activities, which amounts to 27 billion tons per year: 50,000 tons per minute.
The main method to dispose of huge amounts of carbon dioxide is the photosynthesis carried out by plants: this process involves light, carbon dioxide, and water that transform into oxygen and glucose. Therefore, this consists in planting and/or preserving forests: the simplest, most economic and spontaneous method, which practically occurs naturally on our planet, ever since the existence of plants. Another good reason for choosing to keep our vineyards unplowed, and plant trees and hedges (see chart on sustainable viticulture).
Carbon footprint (2012)
Ricci Curbastro has addressed, in a concrete manner, one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time: climate change.
In fact, greenhouse gas emissions are mainly responsible for global warming. The Carbon Footprint, that is, the total emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHG Greenhouse gas) associated with a product, process, or service along its entire life-cycle, is the method of calculation of greenhouse gas emissions.
We’ve calculated our Carbon Footprint, not for the legal obligations involved, but as a voluntary tool, in order to make our commitment to the environment even more evident and improve our actions towards reducing these emissions.
It is for this reason that we have taken actions towards containing our CO2 emissions, with the monitoring and reduction of greenhouse gases during the wine production phase (from the vineyard to the cellar), and organization in general, to ensure activities that are ever more natural and sustainable.
We reduced our energy demand by investing in renewable energy, such as solar panels that produce all the electricity we use, and in agricultural and manufacturing techniques that reduce our emissions into the environment.
In particular, for calculating greenhouse gas emissions in the Ricci Curbastro company, was use the “Ita.ca ®” calculator, internationally recognized by the FIVS and WFA.
This has been applied to all of Ricci Curbastro’s activities, monitored since 2010, to evaluate the emissions associated with the production chain, for example, the daily transportation of employees from their homes to the company, energy emissions (fossil fuels, such as diesel and electricity consumed), non-energy emissions (CO2 used in production processes, nitrous oxide, N2O (released with inorganic fertilizers), halocarbons, such as cooling gas used in the wine cellar cooling units), the purchase of all materials, such as poles and wires for the vineyard, pneumatic oil, lubricants for tractors, pesticides, renewal of barrels, wine products, hygiene products, office supplies, advertising material, water, and so on, as well as packaging materials, such as bottles, corks, capsules, labels, cardboard, plastic film, and pallets and, finally, travel by car or plane to the promotional activities of the company.
Our calculations have been verified through ISO 14064 standards, which have the primary purpose of lending credibility and assurance (trust) to the reporting and monitoring processes for the GHGs. On February 1st, 2013 we were certified in compliance with the ISO 14064-1:2006 standard.
These were the results:
The average net emission per bottle sold in 2010 was equal to -1.907 kg CO2 equivalent.
The average net emission per bottle sold in 2011 was equal to -2.599 kg CO2 equivalent.
In 2011, we basically seized CO2 for an equivalent of more than 5,000 trees, or about 18 acres of woodland.
We can say with pleasure that drinking a bottle of Franciacorta Ricci Curbastro
is also good for the environment, and would like to invite you to share with us ever increasing responsible actions, for example by recycling the glass of every bottle of wine after you have enjoyed drinking it.
During 2023, the Ricci Curbastro Estate committed to purchasing software that can allow, through the insertion of the collected data, to calculate the carbon and water footprint index on an annual basis so as to monitor its emissions on an annual basis.
Organic viticulture (2015)
Ecology and respect for the environment, but not because it’s trendy.
A special three-way relationship: Vine-man-nature.
Running the vineyards along the lines of sustainable and organic agriculture.
Since 1992 we have applied the EC Reg. 2078/92 then became EC Reg 1257/1999 and in particular the articles 22,23 and 24 of the latter which provide for Agri-Environmental Measures or “agricultural production methods compatible with the protection needs of the environment and with the care of the natural space”.
In recent years we have been committed by the so-called “Measure F” of this Regulation to practice cultivation and fertilization techniques of less impact, in practice:
- we have not used herbicides or herbicides for over twenty five years;
- the treatments of the grapevine against downy mildew and powdery mildew were carried out according to a strict standard that includes few mineral and non-synthetic products and according to a calendar of interventions dictated by our weather shed, therefore according to actual needs and not according to a predetermined calendar that does not take into account atmospheric conditions and implies greater treatments at the vineyard;
- the fertilizations were made only after analysis of the land and therefore according to the actual needs of the single vineyard;
- the soil has been grassed between the rows to reduce mechanical processing, erosion, washout and return humus, through cutting the grass, to the soil itself.
Along our vineyards hedges, especially hawthorn, and rows of trees (mulberry, oak and chestnut) have been maintained or recreated so as to reconstruct the traditional agricultural landscape but above all provide hospitality to a wildlife – insects, birds, small mammals – useful for biodiversity and the fight against vine pests. The artificial nests already placed in some vineyards recall birds typical of the areas under vines, such as great tit and red-tailed. The presence of these insectivores in the vineyards with their predatory activity towards harmful insects helps the work aimed at biological balance and its stability over time.
But since there is no end to the search for the best since 2015, we began the conversion of the entire company to organic viticulture and in 2018 we made the first harvest with the first entirely organic Franciacorta grapes.
Also 2018 was the year of our certification according to the SOPD Equalitas sustainability standard – Sustainability of the wine supply chain: Organization, Products, Designations of Origin (SOPD).
The result of the 2017 work (certified in 2018) is reported in our 2017 Sustainability Report, also published online.
Recycling (2016)
Recycling of waste and separate collection.
Cork stoppers can also be reused.
By recycling of waste is meant the whole set of strategies aimed at recovering materials from waste to reuse them instead of disposing of them in landfills or incinerators.
Raw materials, semi-finished products or waste materials deriving from manufacturing processes that would otherwise be wasted or thrown away as waste can be recycled. A classic example of recycling in an agricultural environment was the fertilizer where manure and straw and all organic waste were transformed into organic fertilizer for crops.
Recycling prevents the waste of potentially useful materials, reduces the consumption of raw materials, and reduces the use of energy, and consequently the emission of greenhouse gases.
In our cellar for years the separate collection of paper and cardboard, glass, plastic, iron, aluminum, cork has been practiced.
The latter is reused for the production of insulating panels, in fact the integumental fabric of the Quercus suber, is made up of several layers of polyhedral cells, full of air. This natural structure guarantees an unsurpassed insulation material. So all the corks used are collected and sent back to the cork factory to be ground and transformed into panels.
Illuminazione Led (2010)
The Ricci Curbastro winery chooses LED lighting.
“Save Energy” project to reduce energy consumption in collaboration with 360° Engineering.
Solar panels and LEDs to reduce the company’s electricity needs to zero.
Lighting using LED lamps allows for savings of around 70-80% compared to traditional lamps. For this reason, the lighting at the Ricci Curbastro Farm has been the subject of a renovation project that has reduced lighting consumption from 6000 W to 1400 W, with a saving of 77%.
LED technology, in addition to saving electricity and the consequent reduction of the carbon footprint:
- guarantees a very long life without loss of efficiency (over 50,000 years of lighting);
- requires little maintenance, the lighting fixtures work at very low voltage (12 or 24 Volts), thus eliminating the risk of accidents caused by lightning;
- they have very low heat emission, which is particularly important to respect the natural temperature of the cellar even when working there for many hours;
- they produce white light without UV, ultraviolet rays, from which it is good to protect the Franciacorta bottles that remain in the cellar for years before they can be marketed;
- their disposal at the end of the cycle does not pollute, in fact they do not contain gas or vapors and their components are entirely recyclable;
- when used outdoors they do not produce light pollution because their beam is directional and does not disperse light.
The project carried out in collaboration with 360° Engineering of Concesio (Brescia) combined with the production of solar energy from photovoltaic panels makes the Ricci Curbastro Agricultural Company entirely self-sufficient in terms of electricity consumption.
Less water, less energy, same well-being (2010)
Water is life.
We all know how essential this resource is for us and our planet, but we only remember it when it is scarce.
Water is life. We all know how essential this resource is for us and our planet, but we only remember it when it is scarce.
Avoiding waste of water is everyone’s duty. By implementing responsible behavior and with simple precautions we can save a good part of the water we consume to meet our daily needs.
This is why the Ricci Curbastro estate has chosen to actively engage by joining the “DocciaLight” project, installing water economizers on all its shower points and in the apartments of the agriturismo.
The water economizer or Low Flow Shower Dispenser is a device designed to mix water with air particles, thus saving up to 50% of the water and energy used to heat it. Thanks to the introduction of air into the jet, the economizers reduce the flow rate of the shower, while maintaining the same comfort.
The expected savings in our company is 52 m3 of water and 216 kg of CO2 not released into the environment, the sea is also made of drops!
Visit the website www.doccialight.it and find out how to respect the environment by saving water and energy.
Romagnola Hen (2001)
An endangered breed of chickens: the Romagnola.
An old chicken coop designed by an architect.
A genetic safeguard project in favor of biodiversity.
A tribute to the ancestor Raffaele Ricci Curbastro.
Anyone who visits the Ricci Curbastro Agricultural and Wine Museum and the cellars of the Ricci Curbastro estate in Capriolo in Franciacorta cannot fail to be impressed by the particular structure of the hen house located in the middle of the garden.
It is actually a very curious construction, with an hexagonal plan that culminates in a turret that performs the functions of a dovecote tower and a tower for sparrows; a sort of small “turreted castle” with an important history.
In fact in the Ricci Curbastro archive are still preserved the original drawings of the project created in 1873 and 1874 by the architect Antonio Tagliaferri from Brescia and built before 1878 when it first appears on cadastral maps.
In 2001, with a patient restoration work, the structure, still used as a chicken coop, was restored to its original splendor, including the original “tricolor” painting, perhaps wanted to remember the very recent Risorgimento wars.
The breeding of the pigeons, to which the turret was intended, represented an important complement to the economy of the family to which women normally dedicated themselves. Sparrows instead represented a kind of gift from nature; usually present around the farms to take advantage of their protection and the presence of food (chicken coops, barns etc.), “reciprocated” the hospitality by providing nestlings for succulent skewers.
With the restoration of the chicken coop, the Ricci Curbastro farm also wanted to use it to participate in an important project to safeguard a core of Romagnola chicken breeders. Originating in the area that included Romagna with the provinces of Ravenna, Forlì, part of Emilia with Bologna, extending to Florence, Arezzo, Pesaro, Urbino and the Republic of S. Marino, that is, in what was the Roman Empire called Flaminia, a primitive breed of chicken was quite uniform in its characters, of a slightly below average size, defined by some as the perfect type of hen for farm and for extended fields (Trevisani G., 1936).
The Romagnola breed has a fine skeleton and bone structure, is very robust, living mostly accustomed to the opposition of the environment. It sheltered on tall trees preferring them to the enclosure of the chicken coop.
It is characterized by a simple, medium-sized crest, straight in the rooster and folded in the hen, of an intense red color, fine texture without the presence of granulations. The wattles are somewhat developed, the oval-shaped mumps, small, light cream color, smooth, sometimes shaded with blue especially in young subjects. The legs vary from pure yellow to spotted yellow, greenish and totally dark. The livery is somewhat varied, as shown by the few photos of the time, but it can be assumed that were common the silver coat, the “silver black bows” gray, the golden red “gold black bows”, white and perched. The weight of the rooster ranges from 2.0 to 2.5 kg, 2.0 kg for the hen. At four months the chicks weigh about 1.0-1.5 kg; the average annual fetation reached 150 eggs with an average weight of 60 g. The skin varies in color and can be yellow or white.
This breed was selected both at the Experimental Polliculture Station of Rovigo, and by the Provincial Inspectorate of Agriculture of Ravenna, which obtained homogeneous groups of golden and gray varieties.
The Romagnola breed, although worthy of greater consideration, due to its geographical location in areas always devoted to poultry farming, underwent successive crossings and was then completely replaced with earlier and more productive breeds (Pozzi G. 1961; Trevisani G., 1936; Pascal T., 1925; Ghigi A., 1930).
Recently recovered, a small nucleus is raised in collaboration with the University of Parma at the Veterinary Faculty.
Precisely from this nucleus come the specimens entrusted to us for the continuation of the species and the preservation of a DNA as precious as it is rare for the purpose of conserving biodiversity, with the aim of being among the protagonists of the overturning of a risk situation that the humanity lives with the processes of extinction of animal and plant species. Processes that are proceeding at an uncontrolled speed.
The Romagnola project in the Ricci Curbastro chicken coop as well as an act due to an animal that has accompanied our life for a couple of millennia is also a tribute to Raffaele Ricci Curbastro (Gualberto’s grandfather) Lugo (Ravenna) 18 19, an illustrious farmer from Romagna who with his poultry selections he obtained important awards in the Romagna and regional exhibitions of 1903 and 1904.