Since 24 May 2022, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano has been the first (and currently the only) Italian wine appellation to boast the most important sustainability certification mark: the Equalitas standard. This is a very demanding protocol that requires compliance with a large number of environmental requirements, such as biodiversity, carbon footprint and water footprint measurement, and socio-economic requirements, such as verification of compliance with trade union freedoms and equal opportunities. In addition, Equalitas also requires the achievement of progressive objectives and the drafting of a sustainability report in which to present and communicate the results obtained.
The award of the mark is the result of a long journey, begun many years ago by the Consortium, which concerns not only wine but the entire territory, including the citizens who live there.
Between 1985 and 1990, thanks to the sensitivity of the Consortium and the support of the Municipality of Montepulciano, a network of weather stations was created and installed throughout the production area to collect meteorological data. Every week, expert agronomists issued a “green message” based on the conditions observed: an operational tool for farms that allowed them to rationalize plant protection measures, thereby limiting the use of chemical pesticides.
In the early 1990s, the Consortium was among the first in Italy to investigate productive land through a zoning project called “Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano Zoning and Promotion of the Region” which involved vineyards in production during the three-year period 1992–1994. The project produced a thematic map for the management of the production area that is still relevant today and fundamental for subsequent studies.
Then, around 2006, a project was launched to dispose of organic waste from vineyards by turning it into biomass fuel to provide energy for schools and administrative buildings, in collaboration with the municipal administration.
The Consortium has also developed the Carbon Footprint project, a system that calculates the “carbon footprint” of the production cycle of a bottle of Vino Nobile, i.e. the CO2 emissions resulting from the production of this prestigious wine with Controlled and Guaranteed Designation of Origin.
Presented at the 2014 Vino Nobile Preview by the Municipality of Montepulciano (which financed the project), the initiative proposed measuring the carbon footprint of Montepulciano DOCG and implementing a series of practices to reduce or offset carbon dioxide emissions.
The system has been recognised by a group of institutions and companies operating at the highest levels in the field of quality and related certifications, which will therefore associate their names with the project.
In 2015, the Carbon Footprint project for Vino Nobile di Montepulciano became a model on a national scale.
