Bonsai vines by Francesco Illy: excellent wine in less than 35 years is the aim

Francesco Illy has adopted an innovative strategy: to cultivate “bonsai” vines. The aim of this action is to produce excellent wine in less than 35 years.


The density of the vineyards owned by Illy at the Le Ripi–Montalcino Estate exceeds Burgundy.

Illy has planted vines of Sangiovese (1.2 ha) and shiraz (2,000 mq), very close: the distance is of 40 cm from each plant to the other, in squares of four meters on each side, juxtaposed, leaving two meters of space between a row and the other.

“At a distance of nearly ten years after implantation”, Illy says, “we know that the roots of the bonsai vines reach 3m under the soil. This results in grapes that give more harmonious and complex wines. More harmonious, because vines do not suffer from water stress, as at that depth the soil is always moist. And more complex, because having gone through various layers of soil they have absorbed different minerals”. “The Achilles’ heel” of the bonsai vineyards is productivity, but only from the 2011 harvest onwards, following the conversion to organic and biodynamic viticulture. “We are already working”, Illy assures, “to make productivity increase. The 2014 vintage will be the year of the truth”.


Source: ItaliaOggi