On 18 June, on the occasion of the Sustainable Gastronomy Day, the Treviso winery and distillery announces its commitment to Slow Food.
Bottega S.p.A., winery and distillery in Bibano di Godega (TV), has been making an unbreakable commitment to sustainability for many years, seeking to maintain a medium-to-long term vision that can lead to real, concrete results in reducing its impact on the environment, the society and the economy. The objective is not only in negative, i.e. limiting damage, but also in positive, in order to bring about widespread improvement in the perimeter of one’s activity.
This sensitivity is in fact a duty for a winegrower who derives wealth from the land and its products and who is therefore obliged to give something back to the land, so that the natural cycle continues to take place in harmony, allowing the winegrower to continue to create and distribute wealth.
Restricting the field to biodiversity, Bottega stands out for the following actions:
-it plans to place beehives in its Vittorio Veneto vineyard, as bees are the first indicators of the healthiness of the environment;
-implements methods of sexual confusion, placing pheromones among the vines using diffusers to control mealybugs, an insect that can damage the plant;
-develops methods of cultivating vines close to woods, surrounded by plants that facilitate the development of predatory insects, which can limit the presence of insects harmful to the vine;
-develops the cultivation of vineyards with different varieties, to give complexity to the wines and maintain their history and identity (in Vittorio Veneto other varieties have been planted alongside Glera plants, such as Bianchetta and Verdiso, which take us back to the origins of Prosecco);
-allows the natural growth of grass between the rows of vines in order to reduce diffuse humidity and facilitate the growth of plants and flowers, which are essential for the survival of bees;
-has totally banned the use of glyphosate for the respect of nature (and is preparing to ban other herbicides as well);
-has gradually phased out the use of chemical fertilisers over the years, replacing them with compost and manure of various origins;
-with the aim of explicitly seeking the highest quality in relation to the environment, it has planted a vineyard of Pinot Noir clones.
As part of this ongoing process, Bottega has enthusiastically joined the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity project, becoming its supporter in the conviction that human health and the environment are closely interconnected. Food, the ultimate expression of biodiversity, must therefore be safeguarded in its many varieties, which history, geography, tradition and culture have created over the centuries.
On the occasion of Sustainable Gastronomy Day, which falls on 18 June and was established in 2016 by the United Nations General Assembly, Bottega is pleased to make this collaboration known.
Commitment to sustainability in this field implies a clear change of course from modern food systems, whose industrial logic has led to food being considered a commodity. Goods to be produced on a large scale and sold in large quantities, for the sole purpose of maintaining high profitability and market competitiveness.
This system can begin to be undermined by individual citizens making conscious, common-sense choices that combine personal health and the well-being of the planet. Here are some suggestions: favour quality over quantity, distrusting cheap food; buy seasonal and local products; reduce consumption of meat and meat products; consume eggs from free-range hens; choose local and sustainable fish; only occasionally use ingredients that come from long distances; avoid food waste, buying only the food you need, repeatedly over the week and possibly without unnecessary packaging.
Bottega
The Bottega company, run by Barbara, Sandro and Stefano Bottega, is both a winery and a distillery. Founded in 1977 by Aldo Bottega under the name Distilleria Bottega, the company is based in Bibano di Godega (TV), 50 km north of Venice, where it produces grappas, wines and liqueurs aimed at a high and medium-high level target.
Its grappas, marketed under the Alexander and Bottega brands, include fine selections of single-variety grapes and distillates matured in barriques. The Bottega wine range includes Prosecco, including the well-known Bottega Gold, and other sparkling wines with great personality. Amarone, Ripasso, Brunello di Montalcino and other great reds are produced in two directly managed wineries in Valpolicella and Montalcino. Bottega’s offer is completed by the Creams & Liquors line, which includes a wide range of fruit and cream liqueurs, including Limoncino, Gianduia and Fiordilatte. Bottega distributes its products in 150 countries around the world.
Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity Onlus
The Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, founded in Florence in 2003 with the support of the Tuscany Regional Authority, coordinates and promotes Slow Food’s projects to protect food biodiversity around the world: Presidia, Ark of Taste, Gardens in Africa, Slow Food Alliance of Chefs and Earth Markets. The Foundation has its own statute, budget, Board of Directors and operations office. Each year it publishes a social report, which gives a detailed picture of its activities, where its financial resources come from and how they are used. Active in more than 100 countries, the Foundation involves thousands of small producers in its projects, providing them with technical assistance (training, exchanges between producers, etc.), training and communication. It also prepares the technical tools for the various projects (guidelines, specifications, manuals, etc.), explores the issues linked to these projects (sustainable agriculture, raw milk, small-scale fishing, animal welfare, seeds, GMOs, etc.) and disseminates biodiversity issues and activities within the association through training and communication activities. The Slow Food Foundation’s projects are tools for promoting a model of agriculture based on local biodiversity, respect for the land and local culture.