In Friuli, one of the first 'Sustainability Reports' of a small winery.
'The Sun, with all these planets gravitating around it, still takes time to ripen a bunch of grapes, as if it had nothing more important'. Galileo said so and the Sun still takes that time today. And then there are the smiles, because, according to Gianni Venica 'Growing with a smile makes the grapes grow better'.
Venica&Venica is located in Dolegna of Collioin the borderland between the Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Slovenia. Different hills, each with its own peculiar exposure and microclimate. A soil that requires attention, care, but capable of yielding complex, mineral and savoury wines. A land that the progenitor Daniele Venica loved and whose love he then passed on to Adelchi, and now to Gianni and Giorgio. Grandpa Daniele taught respect for nature, for its cycles, because only if you indulge Mother Nature does she give benefits. In vineyard and in winery only natural products.
And yes, science and technology have changed the world of winemakingbut the Venica family wants to keep those values, ancient and true, alive and intact. Gino Veronelli encourages walking in the vineyard. Venica&Venica has turned this stimulus into a drive to do good to do good: a course of observation and planning that pays attention to the plant, its roots, the soil in which the plants live, and the environment.
When you arrive in wineryor in the resort, Ornella Lauzzana Venica, Gianni's wife and champion of that 'walk in the vineyard', tells you: "We give away the environment, that's all we have.
to offer other than these wonderful lands in which we find ourselves'.. And those lands Ornella then tells you about with an enthusiastic heart, because of the Venica&Venica environment you feel
guardian.
And so, if already in 2011 the choice to join V.I.V.A., Assessing the Impact of Viticulture on the Environment, today Venica is one of the first small companies to present a Sustainability Report, anticipating the times in Collio and beyond. A tale of good practices, to transmit values.
'The environment is not a property,' says Ornella Lauzzana, 'but a gift that we must protect and pass on to future generations. The Sustainability Report is a declaration of responsibility, for the future. Where there is good soil there will be good wine; the more intact the soil, the more the product will have quality. But that is not all. The Sustainability Report tells about a product of agriculture, which then generates an economy, but it also and above all tells about the territory. A wine sustainable is a wine that has a focus on protecting the land and the community. Identity and responsibility, these are the key words, because today's actions are the result of a history that comes from the past and are a commitment to the future. The mission is to preserve and offer values to be transmitted'.
While the parameters to be met when drawing up a Sustainability Report are technical (carbon footprint, water footprint, energy savings, etc.), the difference lies in the story of an awareness, that of having received the earth as a gift and having the duty to leave it intact to those who will come after us.
And above all, it lies in the heart: in a true love for the environment, which will allow the Sun to continue to devote its time to ripening a bunch of grapes.
Ph. Credits: Renzo Schiratti
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