In November 2022, we were honored with the Gavi Award "La Buona Italia 2023" for our efforts in spreading the word about sustainable wine. What got us this recognition was our ability to share our dedication to being environmentally friendly, promoting responsible consumption, supporting initiatives that give back to the community, being responsible as a company, and combatting gender inequality.

Sustainability is a major part of our plan for the future. Making sure people know about our commitment to sustainability is essential for two reasons: first, it helps us show that we're leading the way in responsible growth, and second, it helps create a culture of sustainability that everyone can share.

The process of converting our estates to organic agriculture began in FY 2016. In FY 2017, we removed herbicides on the Poggio Casciano and Greppone Mazzi estates, replacing them with mechanical actions. Insecticides were replaced by biological fighting against the main insects that attack the vines.

In FY 2019, following the natural evolution of the practices implemented in estate management, we structured and defined an organic conversion process in Tuscany that aims for 100% organic production by FY 2025.

To make this happen, we had to make a radical change in vineyard management. We did this by deeply understanding the vineyards, including their variations in strength and the local climate.
Continuous monitoring is essential to ensure the required protection of the vineyard against disease and parasites. The use of cultivation methods with a reduction in chemical products requires the use of specific agricultural machinery and timeliness in operational choices to guarantee maximum efficiency and a minimum impact on the land.

To reduce chemical products to prevent and treat disease in the vineyard, we also use weather and environmental sensors that collect forecast data such as temperature, air humidity, rainfall, leaf wetness and wind speed, in order to provide a timely and balanced defense against disease with a lower impact on the environment.

This process is helped by a Decision-Making Support System (DSS), software that gathers, organizes and integrates field information, providing support and alerts in order to make informed vineyard management decisions.

The partnership continues with CREA-Viticoltura Enologia di Conegliano, which started in FY 2019, to monitor flavescence dorée, a disease that causes vines to struggle to grow and grapes not to ripen.

The work carried out between the center and our Ca’ del Duca estate enables us firstly to monitor any infestation and then to direct measures taken in the vineyards.

This allows us to pinpoint any infected vines that have to be removed to contain the spread. This partnership enables the center to obtain more information and knowledge about the disease in order to develop statistics about its evolution in the area.

In order to preserve and protect our biodiversity, we have been committed to safeguarding bees since 2008, first in Tuscany, on the Gretole estate, through the installation of 2 hives, before growing them over the years, oscillating between 10 and 15 hives, depending on the seasons.

In 2021, we started a similar project in Veneto on our Ca’ Del Duca estate, initially with 3 hives, which grew to 6 during 2022.

Due to our organic vineyard management, we protect bees and extract honey of the finest quality. In Tuscany, we manage honey production by means of a third-party company, while in Veneto we produce our own honey and make it available to our employees.

Bees are a very important indirect indicator of the health of our ecosystems and how our habitat and biodiversity protection strategy is working.

To protect biodiversity and support the habitats of native species, we have designated a large area, by Ruffino’s waterways, for the creation of wetlands with the planting of rushes along the edges of the canals. Moreover, as a boundary with neighboring lots, we have planted hedges, such as viburnum and wild apple trees.

This flora is managed in a “wild” way and only receives human intervention occasionally in order to support the local fauna and help to strengthen the resilience of the local habitats

Precision agriculture is an agricultural management strategy based on observation, data measurement and response to temporal and spatial variability in order to improve the sustainability of agricultural production. In our case, this tool enables us to conduct site-specific viticulture, i.e. it allows us to manage variability in the vineyard due to varying soil characteristics and their position of hillsides with the aim of distributing fertilizers and conducting the work needed to achieve the best balance between vegetation and production, as well as analysis to grow the best possible grapes on that site.

Starting in 2010, we decided to make the most of the potential of precision agriculture to best manage our vineyards, also from the point of view of a deeper and more authentic choice of environmental sustainability, protecting biodiversity and reducing the impact of agricultural activities. This decision was flanked with the choice to convert to organic farming. Starting in 2011, in our Chianti Classico vineyards, we obtained the first maps with the NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and related vigor maps of the vineyards down to details of the single rows. Combined with GIS technology and integrating control technology on the machines, these maps allowed machinery to be adopted for “variable rate” fertilizing to distribute nutrients based on the actual needs of the vineyard area.

This approach was developed further with Ruffino’s participation in the “Kattivo” working group in 2019 to distribute a technological kit, which when applied to traditional atomizers, allows pesticides to be dispersed in variable amounts. The amount of vegetation to be treated is read instantaneously by the machine with ultrasound technology. The technique, which is still experimental, has allowed pesticide waste to be reduced by up to 30%. Precision viticulture and automation are also seen in successful operational solution, such as automated selective harvesting. We are now equipped with a mechanical harvester that has a automatic grape selection system that decides, based on a quality map of the vineyard, to divide the grapes of different quality levels into two categories and two different loading hoppers.

The results are remarkable 13 years after embarking on this approach. Managing in a site-specific way means reducing waste (correct amounts of fertilizers and pesticides), respecting and raising the quality of the grapes and ensuring a longer life of the vineyard.

Water availability and its responsible use are key issues for the wine industry. All our production processes require the use of water and we are aware of its value as an invaluable and limited resource.
Investments, technology, innovation and continuous monitoring are the pillars of our water management policy that aims to reduce waste and overcome the challenges of climate change.

In recent years, we have increased the water efficiency of the vineyards on our estates by focusing, on one hand, on precision agriculture practices and implementing technological tools that were previously unavailable, and, on the other hand, consolidating our irrigation capacity by building rainwater collection basins.

A network of sensors enables us to check the actual needs of the vines and to conduct drop irrigation, which optimizes water use, allowing 50% savings of the water usually used, and ensures that the needs of the plants are met.
While a precision irrigation system is already 80% functional on our estates in Veneto, the systems are being strengthened in Tuscany, which will result in a gradual and sizable increase in the irrigated surface areas.

60% of the irrigation network in the Tuscan vineyards will be powered by rainwater by 2025. Three rainwater collection basins are already operational and three more will be implemented in the coming years.

Being present and involved in the activities of local higher education institutes is a privilege and an opportunity. The interaction among students, academics and the company has proven – and continues – to be a source of mutual learning and enrichment. We open our doors to students from various faculties with the aim of sharing our hands-on exprience as well as theoretical notions.

The principles and values linked to corporate social responsibility play a fundamental role in all activities. For us, it is essential that our employees are aware of these issues, which is why we have implemented specific training sessions.

In detail, these sessions aim to examine how Ruffino works in an ever-changing context, exploring the actions already taken, the projects that are underway and goals for the future.
The aim is to promote and perpetuate good practices in an increasingly informed way.

The work that began in the past calls for information activities involving the entire workforce. Sustainability policies, goals and projects for the Ruffino Group and CBI are set out in internal communications and targeted meetings.

Starting in FY23, our goal is to involve 100% of employees in training and information sessions regarding sustainability. We strive to become a positive pioneer for the entire community in this field.

Having positively evaluated the implementation of remote working during the pandemic, in April 2022 we officially introduced remote working through an agreement stipulated with the internal worker representative.

Every employee who chose this working method can now work remotely up to two days a week. This decision not only provides greater working flexibility, facilitating the work-life balance, but it is also proving to be an effective strategy to attract new professional talent.

As an advocate of social responsibility in the wine industry, Wine in Moderation (WIM) provides information and resources to trade professionals, so that they in turn present wine responsibly. The aim is to inspire consumers to promote wine culture in a healthy, positive and sociable way.

The program encourages moderate consumption through training courses, communication campaigns, communicative standards for informed wine advertising and scientific studies. We have actively supported Wine in Moderation for years.

We have worked side by side with WIM since FY 2015 and in FY 2020, Ruffino S.r.l. became an Ambassador Company within the movement. To further underline our commitment, the President and CEO of the Ruffino Group is President of Wine in Moderation.