It is in the last decade that we have started thinking about the impact of our actions on our planet. We are starting to grasp that small changes in your daily life can make a big impact over time and we could live a more sustainable life.
It is remarkable to think about how sustainable life was in the past. Looking only at Montofoli Wine Estate we can observe the following:
Irrigation: the whole of estate is watered by irrigation channels and cisterns. Irrigation channels, “amboli”, can be found in many parts of Greece; they are a very old system which uses the waters that flow from the mountains in an amazingly sustainable way. After the end of April, on specific days known since forever to the locals, water is allowed to flow into each estates’ channels by opening the small iron gates in the right direction. When our turn is over, those gates are closed and are sending the water away to the next estate for irrigation purposes and so forth.
In addition to these channels, rainwater is gathered in our three cisterns. Since the estate is developing on terraces the water flows naturally for the highest altitude terrace watering the citrus trees, greenery and finally the vines. No water is lost (!) because it is gathered in the cistern with the lowest altitude in the estate called “kleftra”, the thief. This cistern is stealing the left-over water where it is stored for times of need. The definition of sustainability itself!
Oil consumption: Instead of using spyder cultivators, rotary tillers and hand-held mechanical flyels, to mow the land between the vines, we get help from the sheep. In consultation with the local farmer we agree on a schedule for the animals, i.e. spend Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on the Assyrtiko terraces, Thursday & Friday on the Athiri and Aidani terraces, and so on. This way, not only do we mow the weeds, we also use the sheep as natural fertilizers!
We want to give our Earth, which gives us so much in abundance, as much as we possibly can in return. We chose to be the keepers of Montofoli Wine Estate, not only of its history and culture but also of its agricultural production and its continuation into the future. Our dream is lessening our ecological footprint making the estate as sustainable as we can for our children.
