Natural viticulture thanks to innovative grape varieties
Piwi wines are made from grapes from fungal-resistant grape varieties. These pioneering varieties were created by crossing European noble varieties with American wild grapes, which exhibit natural resistance to fungal diseases.
Piwi grapes, like all traditional grape varieties, are the result of conventional cross-breeding and have nothing to do with genetic engineering. For several decades, "Piwi" grapes have been bred and selected at various viticultural institutes in Europe, and approved for cultivation if they are suitable.
Unlike Piwi grapes, all traditional grape varieties, such as Pinot Noir, Humagne Rouge, or Petite Arvine, require several fungicide treatments each year. These pesticides also reach the grapes and the vineyard's biosphere.
Even organically farmed vines must be regularly treated with pesticides to combat diseases, but only natural pesticides may be used. However, this still results in copper and sulfur being concentrated in the affected areas, and the spraying, which is primarily carried out mechanically, damages the soil and causes pollutant emissions.
Hans-Peter Baumann first came into contact with these pioneering varieties in the late 1980s. As a Piwi pioneer from the very beginning, he immediately planted some Piwi vines (Gf-Ga 48-12 and Orion) on an experimental basis in the Vispertal Valley and produced the first wines from unsprayed cultivation. Since then, our Piwi vineyard area has been growing slowly but steadily.
In autumn 2023, for the first time, we cellared more Piwi grapes than traditional varieties, and every year even more Piwi grapes will find their way into our winery. We're already producing 12 different wines from them!
