How ‘promiscuous agriculture’ is driving Taurasi

The polycultural farming traditions in Taurasi, southern Italy, are proving effective at combatting climate change, writes LM Archer. Taurasi DOCG, located in southern Italy’s Campania region, produces complex, age-worthy wines, most famously from Aglianico, a local red grape. “The origin of vineyards in the Taurasi area dates back to the Etruscan period, where the vines were grown at heights with different shapes,” says vigneron Gianluigi Addimanda of Cantine Fratelli Addimanda. “These practices, handed down from generation to generation by our ancestors, have remained alive to this day.” These ancient techniques, colloquially called 'starseta' or 'raggiera', intersperse vines among cover crops, grains, olive groves, nut trees, and fruit orchards. Other regions sometimes refer to this multi-layered, polycultural method as “promiscuous agriculture.” The approach came about because "poor communities needed to produce the maximum from the small parcels of land available to them,” says winemaker Luigi Tecce, who inherited his grandfather’s raggiera vineyards in the Taurasi hills in 1997. Teece's winery applied polyculture for economic needs, generating more fruits, without crowding the land with a single species, allowing plants to "coexist in a system of harmony and health,” he notes. “Taking a look, with greater attention to what more generations have done in the past could be useful [in terms of climate change]."

Resilient vineyards

It's no surprise that biodiversity promotes resilient vineyards. “Having different plants means having a living soil, as it is the biodiversity present in the soil that makes the soil itself healthy and stronger,” explains Addimanda. It also results in healthier, more complex grapes. “Olive trees, wheat for flour, cover crops in the vineyard rows - surely it is important to have a balance between vineyard and microorganisms,” says winemaker Sabino Colucci of Cantina Colli di Castelfranci. “So we have grapes with more complexity, and healthier.” According to Carla Giusy Favati, second generation member of Cantine I Favati, bees work hard to pollinate trees during flowering season, "creating benefits for the ecosystem” which can negate the need for herbicides. Favati’s vineyards boast an ancient olive grove and hundred-year-old oak tree alongside aromatic laurels, herbs, and berries, plus fig, pomegranate, cherry, hazelnut, and native ‘Mela Annurca’ and ‘Mela Limoncella’ apple orchards. Such polygamous agriculture nurtures older vines. “Pre-phylloxera vines, or those that are 50-100 years old, grown with the raggiera cultivation system, have a greater ability to adapt to climate changes,” says Addimanda. His own family estate vines range between 80 - 200 years old. “The raggiera system allows the plant (vine) to colonise more land, grow taller, produce more grapes, and live longer,” he says. Addimanda explains that these older vines grow longer root systems, allowing them to better search for water and nourishment during periods of drought. Most also grow taller, thereby mitigating late frost damage, while capitalising upon winds that minimise fungal disease.

Safeguarding the future

Unfortunately, some Taurasi wineries, eager to turn a fast profit, have chosen to eschew the raggiera system for mechanical farming methods, and the difference felt in the final wines is clear. “Today the world chases profit at any cost,” Addimanda cautions. “We cannot forget our origins, because they gave life to our morality. As a child, I was used to respecting nature, because we are all part of it. “From the 1990s onwards, our ancient raggiera technique was supplanted by the 'spalliera' (vertical) training system, imported and copied from places with very different climates and soils to ours,” says Tecce. “This change in cultivating the vineyard, and the increase in temperatures, produces increasingly alcoholic and concentrated wines.” Some, but not all. “Having vineyards with an advanced age of the vines translates into a small quantity of grapes, and high quality,” says Addimanda. “Furthermore, these grapes have more polyphenols, which are good for human heart health.”

Extinct varieties thrive

Taurasi’s promiscuous agriculture also contributes something intangible to the region. “In the world, it is not easy to observe free-standing, pre-phylloxera vines like we have here in Taurasi,” says Addimanda. Moreover, nearly extinct varieties thrive, such as Roviello Bianco, a regional white grape dating back to 1593. “The winegrowing landscape in Taurasi is totally different from all other winegrowing landscapes in the world, where only parallel rows of vines are observed,” says Addimanda. “Safeguarding old varieties of grapes and fruit plants for the future is our mission as it means safeguarding biodiversity for future generations, and contributing in our small way to doing something good.”