THE CERTIFIED SIMONIT&SIRCH VINE SURGERY TEAM IS BORN
TO SAVE THE VINEYARDS FROM ESCA, WITHOUT UPROOTING THEM.
Surprising Results of Vine surgery:
90% of the plants operated on are fully productive again
The certified SIMONIT&SIRCH Vine Surgery Team is born, with emergency teams that take to the field to save the vineyards from esca, without eradicating them. Prepared and equipped in a specific way, they work promptly at the request of companies with vine surgery, a literal “surgical” technique, which the Vine Master Pruners have developed in recent years to counteract the detrimental effects of esca, the most serious and widespread disease that affects vineyards all over the world, and especially those in Europe.
“Notably, we can compare our intervention to what a dentist does to treat a cavity – explains Marco Simonit – Using small chainsaws, we open the trunk and remove the part affected by esca. The plant “disinfected” from the disease, regains vigour in a short time, starts to bear fruit and is fully productive again. There are no effective products for treating esca, even though a lot of research is being done in this regard. There are only two things to do: prevention with correct pruning and timely surgery as soon as the plants begin to show the first symptoms. ”
The results achieved over 10 years of work and experimentation in Italian and French vineyards as well as in various important wine-growing areas of the world are surprising: 90% of the plants treated are fully productive again. A result of great importance, both for the quality of the wines and for the economic impact. In fact, by uprooting the diseased vines and replacing them with new plants, an imbalance in the grapes quality is created in the vineyard which obviously affects the quality and quantity of the wine. To have the longest-living plants possible is a priority for all winemakers, but above all for the most important international Maisons, since it guarantees the consistent quality and recognition of their great wines. Vine surgery also allows for companies to save considerably, since the cost of replanting is avoided (uprooting of diseased vines, excavation of holes, planting of new plants, breeding) therefore the lack of production from new plants for at least 6 years is avoided.
The first tests of vine surgery were conducted by Simonit & Sirch in 2011 at Chateau Reynon Bordeaux, then from Schiopetto in Friuli and from Bellavista in Franciacorta. In 10 years of work and experimentation, 16,000 plants of 12 varieties (Sauvignon blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon, Pinot noir, Riesling, Malvasia Istriana, Sangiovese, Gruener Veltiner, Carmenere, Malbec) have been operated on, in vineyards from 12 wine-growing regions: Collio, Franciacorta, Montalcino, Champagne, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Mendoza, Kamptal, Steiermark, Pfalz, Istria and Maipo in Chile. Analyzing the data collected – validated by the University and the INRA Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Bordeaux – it appears that vine surgery slows down the progression of mortality symptoms of infected plants and that, despite the operated plants show a slightly lower vigour and fertility than healthy plants, the quality of the grapes is comparable. It is not the same for non-operated infected plants.
“As an example – Simonit points out – to say that in 6 years (from 2011 to 2017) 90% of the Sauvignon blanc plants operated on in Friuli returned to production, and if before 2011 they were replaced due to illness ‘4.3% per hectare were removed, after 2017 the percentage dropped to 0.07%.”
“It all started years ago, when we thought about experimenting with vine surgery, described by Ravaz and Lafon, practiced since ancient times and applied by Poussard at the end of the 1800s with very encouraging results, that is 90-95% of restored vines – he concludes – Thanks to the interest of Prof Denis Dubourdieu, former director of the ISVV Istitut des Sciences de la vigne et du vin of the University of Bordeaux, who unfortunately died prematurely, we have put it into practice with modern tools. We were the first ever to do it, both in Italy and abroad. We are absolutely satisfied with these results, but we will not stop there, because our work is forever in progress. We are verifying, for example, what is the best time of year to intervene, how often we have to do it, how many plants a person can operate on per day, how long the plants we operate on remain asymptomatic and other various factors.”
Year of the photo: 2013
Before vine surgery
Country: Francia Region: Bordeaux
Company: Château Reynon – Denis DUBOURDIEU
Vineyard: Cyprès est
Variety: Sauvignon blanc
Age: 25 anni / Row: 3 / Plant: 8
Year of the photo: 2013
Year of vine surgery: 2013
Country: Francia Region: Bordeaux
Company: Château Reynon – Denis DUBOURDIEU
Vineyard: Cyprès est
Variety: Sauvignon blanc
Age: 25 anni / Row: 3 / Plant: 8
Year of the photo: 2019
Year of vine surgery: 2013
Country: Francia Region: Bordeaux
Company: Château Reynon – Denis DUBOURDIEU
Vineyard: Cyprès est
Variety: Sauvignon blanc
Age: 25 anni / Row: 3 / Plant: 8
Informazioni – SIMONIT&SIRCH – www.simonitesirch.it – info@simonitesirch.it – Tel. +39 0432.752417
Ufficio Stampa – AGORÀ di Marina Tagliaferri – www.studio-agora.it – agora@studio-agora.it – Tel +39 0481.62385
