San Michele Adige, Montalcino, Wednesday, March 29th 2017
Cooperation for the wine varietal improvement. Banfi will test 8550 FEM vine plants
Agreement between FEM and Banfi, a sustainable experimental vineyard in Tuscany
Official presentation at Vinitaly on Monday, April 10, at 11AM, at the Banfi stand
Edmund Mach Foundation of San Michele all’Adige and Banfi signed an agreement of development and technological cooperation for the improvement of varietals, which involves the creation of an experimental vineyard in Tuscany, where will be grown eight prototypes of varietals selected through the activity of genetic improvement operated by FEM for their tolerance to botrytis.
About 6750 vines will be planted in two vineyards of two hectares each in Montalcino, where Banfi owns 2800 hectares. These varietals come from crosses of Vitis vinifera, tolerant to botrytis. In the same vineyard will be planted also other varietals that are the fruit of the research of San Michele. More precisely 900 plants of Iasma Eco 1 and 900 plants of Iasma Eco 2, which are already registered in the national register of varieties that Banfi will test to evaluate the enological potential and to achieve the inclusion in the list of grape varieties for the planting in Tuscany.
The general manager, Sergio Menapace, who signed the agreement with Banfi, explains: "The signing of this agreement consolidates a partnership with a company that has a strong focus on innovation and research, and that operates in an important Italian vinicultural area. At the same time this helps to raise awareness and promote the quality of the work of genetic varietal improvement made by FEM ".
"For Banfi, in addition to strengthen the relationship with FEM, this is a natural step in the path of research and innovation undertaken 40 years ago. Our desire of knowledge is, and has always been, a strong encouragement to improve by understanding changes, always in full respect of the territory in which we operate," said Enrico Viglierchio, Banfi general manager.
The goal is to make viticulture more and more sustainable and thus reduce the environmental impact. As explained by the Head of the vines genetic improvement unit, Marco Stefanini. "We, as researchers, are interested in observing the behavior of selected genotypes in different environments, enriching our knowledges and transferring them to other rooms."
"For us, the preservation of cultural and environmental heritage has been a landmark since the beginning," says Rudy Buratti, head winemaker of Banfi. "And today, that the concept of sustainability is much more felt than in the past by an increasingly demanding and well-informed consumer, the interest towards these eco-friendly varieties is growing. The experimentation will give the opportunity of diversifying defense strategies, and, therefore, defining a Banfi Protocol ".
The project will be fully described at Vinitaly, during a press conference scheduled for Monday, April 10 2017, at 11AMm, at the stand of Banfi (Hall 9 / D6).
Interested journalists are kindly invited to participate,
For information
Silvia Ceschini -Relationships with FEM media Responsible
email: silvia.ceschini@fmach.it - tel. 339. 7392973
Lorella Carresi- PR & Communication Manager - Banfi
e-mail: lorella.carresi@banfi.it - tel .: 0577 840 111
Web site: www.castellobanfi.it
