The biodynamic vinegrowers’ collective Aliances per la Terra, founded in 2015 with the aim of sharing a conscious quest for healthier soil and grapes, is celebrating its tenth harvest and all the milestones it has achieved.
The winegrowers of Aliances per la Terra have celebrated our tenth grape harvest together. Although ten years may not seem like much, for us, the members of the collective, it is truly impressive.
When Jaume Gramona presented the first proposal to the founding members, he made it clear that it had to be a shared project. Years later, he shares that what he considers most important is having travelled this path together; biodynamics will never be a project that can be carried out alone, but rather requires teamwork. And that is what we have been doing all these years: coming together to research, study and work as a team.
In 2015, we embarked on our journey into biodynamics together, and everything seemed new to us. Little by little, we have made progress without even realising it. In biodynamic viticulture, there are no stages; you never reach a point where you can stop and rest. You learn something new every day, and every day is different. The principles of the philosophy underpinning this way of working the land, and the endless decisions that need to be made, must be adapted to each terroir, each vineyard and each vine. These decisions must be continually reassessed, depending on the rain, the wind, the intensity of the sun… everything that interacts with the vineyard, so with nature.
What inspires us
Our initial impulse was clear: we wanted to create a healthier, more vibrant landscape in order to produce better-quality grapes. Looking back, we can see that we have achieved this goal and, indeed, it is this success that drives us to go even further.
The effort put in over the years has been considerable. Farming the land is never easy; being a vinegrower is hard work. Biodynamic viticulture involves an additional burden, but the rewards are also greater. Our vineyards has gained in vitality and the vines are better able to cope with drought and temperatures that are becoming more extreme every year.
We have also noticed that the environment has come alive as a result. We have more insects, more birds and more wildlife than before, and, little by little, we are creating veritable islands of biodiversity. We cannot say for certain whether this is the cause or the consequence of better-quality grapes, but we are fully convinced that the two go hand in hand.
Like all families, we too are concerned about the future of those who will come after us; our children’s future is far from certain. We like to think, and we are convinced, that if we continue to work together in the same way that has led us to this tenth harvest, we will increase our chances of being able to continue cultivating the vineyard as a way of life in the Penedès, both for ourselves and for future generations. All our efforts are directed towards a better future, here in our homeland, the Penedés.
