Podere Conca expands the vineyards of Ferruggini.
A New Vineyard Hectare
The important news for spring is that Podere Conca is planting a new hectare expanding the vineyards of Ferrugini, but this time with white berry grapes.
Indeed, the Consortium of DOC Bolgheri asked for and obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture a change of the production Guidelines adding, among the others, the possibility to use Viognier. Since always Silvia Cirri has wanted this variety in the blend of white wine Elleboro because she believes it is more suitable for this territory compared with others that are generally used.
Therefore, we are glad that now it is possible to use it for DOC Bolgheri and the new hectare, which we have granted, will be planted with Viognier. That is the confirmation that our idea to aim at Viognier, an international vine that we believe combines perfectly with the area peculiarities, is based on right principles .
The New Cuttings
So last autumn we ordered cuttings directly from France, which is considered the home of Viognier, in particular the area of Condrieu, and we have prepared the ground to host we fertilized it waiting for the best moment to plant them in spring.them; then
The plants arrived middle February, covered with bright red shellac to protect the grafting point between American vines which give roots, and European vines, which give grapes.
Since the vine fillossera appeared in Europe, almost two centuries ago, we are forced to graft the plants: this insect attacks the roots and unfortunately the European vine, more suitable for fructifying, is highly sensitive to this attack. On the contrary, American vine resists longer to the wounds of this insect and prevents the plant from being irreparably damaged.
The new cuttings, covered with this protection, have been planted in the worked ground and put in rows, two metres far one from the other, to achieve a planting density of about 6,000 plants/ha that today is considered the best to obtain high quality grapes.
It was exciting to see that some of them started their growth already middle March, and the buds increased until breaking the shellac and opening their first leaves
During the spring-summer season they will extend their buds that will become the future plant stems.
We will already see their fruits next year, but for an actual harvest we should wait for at least three years, when the plants will sufficiently grow and fully dedicate to the production of their bunches.
by Silvia Cirri, Linda Franceschi and Paola Cioni