Desaja, 2014

We are a biodynamic farm in Santo Stefano Roero, in the heart of Roero, a hilly region on the left part of the river Tanaro. Roero is characterized by sandy soils, especially on the tops of the hills, where the vines grow. The hillsides are usually very steep, which is why most of our vineyards are worked entirely by hand, without the aid of machinery. Our wines are recognizable for their perfume, finesse and elegance, thanks to a combination of sandy soil, low summer rainfall and strong sun on our steep slopes. We produce our wines from grapes that grow in vineyards where we don’t use synthetic pesticides or herbicides, nor do we use mineral fertilizers or plough the soil, instead we cultivate grasses between the rows, trying to encourage the maximum development of biodiversity through surface sowing and herbaceous cuttings of various essences: leguminous plants, grasses, cruciferous etc. The only treatments that we use are: mined sulphur powder (which we use for the control of oidium), Bordeaux Mixture (which we use for downy mildew and which we apply with very low doses of copper), Propolis (which we get from our bees), Biodynamic preparations… The yields of grapes per hectare are very low, 40/60 % of the total amount permitted by the regulations. The wines are made with spontaneous fermentation without the addition of selected yeasts and without the use of refrigerated tanks for the temperature control. Our sulphite totals are very small – ten times less than the limits of the law.