A new vineyard at Podere Conca

A new hectare of vineyard

The most important news this spring is that Podere Conca is planting a new hectare, expanding the Ferruggini vineyards, this time focusing on a white grape variety.

The Consortium of the DOC Bolgheri in fact, he requested and obtained from the Ministry of Agricultural Policies a modification to the production regulations by inserting, among other things, the possibility of using the Viognier. Silvia Cirri has always wanted this grape variety in the white blend Hellebore considering it more suitable for this territory than other vines generally used.

We were therefore very happy that it is now possible to use it in the DOC Bolgheri and the new hectare that we were allowed to plant will be based, in fact, on Viognier. It is the confirmation that our idea of ​​focusing on Viognier , an international grape variety that we thought would marry perfectly with the peculiarities of the area, had the right foundations. 

The new rootstocks

Last autumn we therefore ordered the cuttings directly from France, considered the home of Viognier, in particular for the Condrieu region, and prepared the soil to receive them; we then fertilized it and waited for the best time to plant them, which is spring.

The seedlings arrived in mid-February, covered with bright red shellac to protect the grafting point between the American vine which acts as a root, and the European part which will bear fruit.

Since when the phylloxera of the vine appeared in Europe, almost two centuries ago, we can no longer do without grafting the plants: this insect attacks the roots and unfortunately the European vine, more suitable for fruiting, is very sensitive to this attack. The American vine, on the other hand, is more resistant to the wounds inflicted by the insect, preventing the plant from being irreparably damaged.

The new ones The saplings , then covered with this protection, were planted in the tilled earth and arranged in rows two metres apart, to have a planting density of around 6000 plants/ha which is today considered the best for obtaining very high quality grapes.

It was exciting to see how some of them, already in mid-March, began to awaken, swelling the buds to the point of breaking the sealing wax and opening the first little leaves.

During the spring-summer season they will lengthen the shoots that will prepare to become the future stems of the plants.

Their fruits will be visible as early as next year, but for a real harvest we will have to wait at least another three years, when the plants will have grown sufficiently and will be able to dedicate themselves entirely to the production of their bunches.

by Silvia Cirri, Linda Franceschi and Paola Cioni