A question that arises with increasing frequency is to whether any of our wines are either organic or biodynamic. The following few paragraphs will hopefully give some insight, not only into our approach toward these ‘green issues’, but also into the routines that we follow in the wine cellar relating to our own environmental policy.
Castro Martin is located in a verdant part of Spain, and the influence of the Atlantic Ocean gives Galicia a damp, humid climate. Despite all the precautions that we take, the vagaries of our weather require us to make some form of intervention every year, and therefore our wines, unfortunately, cannot be categorized as biodynamic. For this reason we believe that it would simply be impossible to produce a genuinely biodynamic wine within the Rias Baixas denomination.
Vineyard Policy
By way of a reference we have compiled a list of many of the vineyard practices that we follow in order to keep our Castro Martin wines as ‘ecologically friendly’ as possible. You will see that most of the procedures that we apply are preventative, to avoid disease in the first place, and consequently minimise the necessity to use any chemical treatments:
Only natural worm humus is used, especially when planting new vines.
Soil management – No herbicides are used – only the traditional system of ploughing the soil when the vines are dormant (doing this in summer can cause root damage)
Natural grass cover between the vines is cut by tractor, and in this way we benefit from the organic material (mulch) that is left behind. In winter we allow sheep to graze our vineyards. Not only does this reduce the frequency of cutting required, saving tractor fuel, but it also provides a small amount of natural nutrient to the soil. If further nutrient is required then we may add some additional horse manure.
In order to prevent infestation and disease mainly preventive strategies are used, such green harvesting and thinning the canopy to avoid excessive humidity under the pergolas. This of course allows a better circulation of air and thus helps reduce fungal attacks. On occasions when attacks do occur we only use treatments that are approved in ecological viticulture, such as:
a) Copper in different combinations in the case of mildew attacks.
b) Soluble and powdered sulphur for the control of excoriosis and oidium.
c) Anti-botrytis (following insect attack or hail damage) when fungus may enter and create rot.
The collection and burning of vine cuttings after pruning reduces the possible spread of fungus spores in the vineyard.
Pheromone traps are used to cause sexual confusion, controlling the polilla de la uva (grape moth) or lobesia botrana. In the case of an attack we treat with bacillus thuringiensis (which is an ecologically friendly treatment)
Harvest – manual collection of grapes to avoid damaged bunches and premature oxidation.