Azienda BAVA #154
A "Green" Winery
Bava, a very green winery from Piemonte, caught the attention of the WTA team primarily for its smart approach to all processes in all areas of production. The winemaking family grows vines using environmentally friendly methods on three farms in Cocconato, Alliano and Castiglione Falletto and has been producing wines for generations. Each of the three farms has its own history and characteristics, and each enriches the range with wines of a different character. They embody the richness of three special areas of Piemonte, which has always been the cradle of Italian viticulture.
Philosophy. Marketing. Copyright. Everything is from the angle of good humor. Well, when we looked a little closer, we really liked the sense of humor of this wonderful winery. They stated their philosophical credo as follows: Wine should be good so that you like it more. Their marketing strategy is based on this maxim: Buy as much wine as you want! And the attitude to our intellectual achievements in the surrounding competitive environment completely won us over: These stories are ours. If you like them, anyone can copy them. And that’s exactly what we did, presenting them here.
Listen to the Language of Nature
Bava is a company that focuses on environmental impact with a history of sustainability. Listen to the language of nature and respond to it consistently is the company’s motto in the vineyard and in the cellar.
Among the methods used by the winemakers are the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions; refusal to use chemical fertilizers and herbicides; sowing mixtures of grasses and legumes in the vineyards; using grass clippings and pruning waste to enrich the soil; collecting and using rainwater from roofs; installing wooden posts from cultivated forests; using photovoltaic systems for electricity needs, etc.
Il Manifesto Bava
In fact, the owners set out all their principles in a wonderful Manifesto (the authors call it A set of stories that have an unmistakable taste of truth), a useful and almost literary work that can be read in one breath. We recommended it!
(You can read it in brief, but we recommend reading the full version of Il manifesto: Azienda Vitivinicola e di Invecchiamento Bava)
Grass
A blade of grass is as strong as a tree! In our vineyards, by sowing grass in the rows and on the border roads, we protect the hills from erosion.
Herbicides
We sow grass in our vineyards, we don’t injure them by weeding!
Barley
In the most inaccessible areas, we even sow winter barley: it neutralizes weeds and dries them without herbicides!
Wooden poles
In one year, we installed 18,000 wooden poles. Not iron or concrete. The trees grow back, but the quarries and mines are coming to an end.
Wooden pillars II
We install only wooden poles in our vineyards because we want our vineyards to resemble a forest, not cemeteries full of concrete or iron crosses.
Fertilizers
Pruning and grass residues alone are not enough to supplement the soil with organic fertilizers. For this reason, after harvesting, we also spread pomace and, if this is not enough, manure in the rows.
Honey
We buy the honey our children eat from a beekeeper in our hills. His bees, we are sure, come into contact with our vineyards. We also think about this when we deal with vineyards.
Falcetto
There is a falcon that has made our vineyard its territory. He always walks in circles and controls everything from above.
Country mice
We have never seen rodents in a falcon vineyard.
Boar
Knowing the famously refined taste of wild pigs and the attention they pay to grapes, we are happy that they are not in these parts.
Dog
Tequila is our dog. He is a Belgian shepherd, black as hell, with bright eyes and a horse chestnut colored kennel.
