For what, ‘in kilometres’, may be just a short hop from the old world charisma of Villa Favorita, has infact become a quantum leap into the URBAN streetscape of MAGRAF’s 11 hectare rock & stone warehouse in Gambellara.

Without doubt, a courageous move. And if we are only to speak in terms of access, parking, floor space, head space, lighting and all support services, hands down VinNatur’s new residence is a winner alright. In a quirky city-style grid, with the tasting tables assembled amidst huge slabs of stunning polished marble, visitors are presented with a series of natural avenues down which strolling, tasting and chat happens with comfort and ease. With limitless space available and no constraints on imagination, one needn’t stretch to begin envisioning the evolutionary potential that this location can offer.

In has come the new event title VinNatur Tasting, the new bi-annual VinNatur Magazine and most encouraging, the exciting news of increasingly far-reaching Research Programs including collaborations with Universities and independent scientific bodies in the study of Agronomy, Biology, Botany and Entomology.

As the associations founder, Angiolino Maule, puts it, when it comes to natural winemaking “it’s no longer sufficient for members to SAY what they’re doing, they now must be willing and able to DEMONSTRATE it too.” To this end, the revised association charter has been published and pilot projects are on-going in the area of independent Qualitative Certification for all association members. Already in motion is a ground breaking program involving the analysis of members wines for any chemical pesticide residues. From the outside, some industry eyes might view this as an overbearing control. But Maule pulls no punches, “We have a responsibility to the protect the living soil, not to mention ourselves and the consumer.”

For more than a century, chemical herbicides and pesticides, together with sulphur and copper based treatments [to combat mildews & fungal disease], have had a catastrophic impact on the health of European vineyards. And the knock on effect in terms of human health can no longer be ignored. Indeed, when looking to the future, Maule and VinNatur members now see it as a noble objective to remove as much sulphur as possible from their activity, both in the vineyard and cellar.

In one of the weekends most active debates, Stefano Zaninotti, Agronomist at Vitenova Vine Wellness, chaired a lively interaction on the merits of planting natural, cross-bred PIWI grapes, whose fungus resistance makes them a front runner in the race to reduce copper & sulphur treatments in the yard. On hand to recount their own direct experience were two Italian winemakers, Maurizio Donadi and Thomas Niedermayr, who craft many of their wines from PIWI varieties like Solaris, Bronner and Souvignier Gris. While all present agreed there’s no escaping the necessity for agriculture to manage crops and soil in a truly life-supporting way, some in attendance were clearly unconvinced by the qualitative potential of the PIWI vines. People obviously fearful of having to give up their favourite varietals and blends. But the knee jerk reaction should not be to simply label and corral ‘the lesser known’ without a fair hearing and due review. Future lives are inextricably linked to the result of our current actions.

So I later sought the opportunity to taste across Thomas Niedermayr’s complete range, where beyond doubt, I experienced Quality, Charm and Excitement. His wines have no shortage of feeling. As Thomas himself explained, working with the PIWI varieties has been a very steep learning curve. Little is known and much of the experimental work has involved hand selecting in the vineyard, growing from seed, plant by plant, to identify the best performing / most resistant vines.

As Niedermayr says himself, “it’s not that funghi don’t attack PIWI vines, they do. It’s just that these resistant bred plants have developed a natural way to isolate the fungus to its point of attack, to starve the fungus of nutrients and thereby ultimately to allow the plant to survive and thrive.” All with little or no further intervention or treatment in the yard. He asks, “Isn’t it better to live and work in a way that respects and doesn’t contaminate the environment?” Who on earth could disagree with him? Responsibility rests with each of us.