Among the vineyards of the Tenuta Rosaneti di Librandi , there is also a small experimental vineyard that looks back almost two centuries: a planting of Mantonico Bianco on ungrafted vines, meaning they are not grafted onto American rootstock, as was done before the devastating phylloxera epidemic . The chosen soil is deliberately sandy, over 60% sand, a condition unfavorable to phylloxera, making this experiment in pre-industrial viticulture possible. Ungrafted vines develop deeper roots, access water reserves inaccessible to grafted plants, and independently manage the balance between vegetative and productive processes. The grapes they produce express a complexity and territorial uniqueness that are difficult to replicate. It is a clear vision: demonstrating that returning to tradition can be the most advanced form of innovation.
It is in this context—physiologically maintained vineyards, a landscape rich in hedges, borders, strips of spontaneous vegetation, and transition areas—that a team of researchers from the National Agritech Research Center (PNRR) and CREA conducted a systematic monitoring of nocturnal lepidoptera on the Tenuta Rosaneti estate. Nocturnal lepidoptera are among the most reliable indicators of environmental quality: selective, sensitive, and capable of colonizing only environments where ecological conditions are optimal.
The results surprised the scientific community. During the monitoring, coordinated by Stefano Scalercio with the contribution of Marco Infusino and Giada Zucco , Anthracia ephialtes (Hübner, [1822]) was detected for the first time in continental Italy and Eublemma cochylioides (Guenée, 1852) for the first time in southern Italy. Both species are now known, throughout the entire Calabrian region, exclusively from the Librandi site.
For years, Librandi has adopted pruning techniques that overturn traditional productivity logic. The goal is not to maximize yield, but to preserve the plant's physiology over time: targeted and limited cuts, never on three-year-old wood, with care taken to the so-called "reserve wood," one or two centimeters above the buds, sufficient to prevent the desiccation cone from damaging the cordon. This practice requires more hours of specialized labor , but it results in long-lived plants, with intact sap flow and naturally greater resistance to increasingly frequent water and temperature stress.
"A healthy vine lives longer, produces better grapes, and is more tolerant to the drought and extreme temperatures that climate change forces us to face every year," explains Davide De Santis, agronomist at Librandi. "Proper pruning isn't a technical detail: it's the foundation of our entire resilience strategy."
"The discovery of these two species isn't a surprise to anyone familiar with our work," comments De Santis. "These butterflies are extremely selective in their habitat selection. Their presence is an objective indicator: it tells us that the estate's ecological system is functioning. Butterflies don't lie."
The results were presented at three international scientific venues in 2025: the XXVIII Italian National Congress of Entomology (Siena), the 24th European Congress of Lepidopterology (Czech Republic), and the Annual Meeting of the Italian Lepidopterological Association (Pigna). At each event, they aroused interest both for the faunal value of the finds and for the management implications of the agricultural model that made them possible.
"For us, the land has never been just a tool for production. It's where we come from, what we inherited, and what we have a duty to return intact—or better yet, richer—to those who come after us," declares the Librandi family . "Knowing that our vineyards are home to butterfly species never before recorded in Calabria confirms that the path we've taken is the right one: it's nature's response to decades of choices that have placed the life of the soil, hedgerows, and wild areas on the same level as the quality of the wine. Biodiversity has always been central to our approach to agriculture."
The Librandi case fits into the broader debate on the role of Mediterranean agricultural landscapes in biodiversity conservation, offering concrete proof that quality viticulture and nature conservation are mutually dependent objectives.
