Animals in the vineyard

The vineyards around Castelletto coexist with woods, fruit trees, hazelnut groves and meadows. Thirty percent of the estate has been retained or replanted as woodland, including an educational truffle ground, orchard, hazelnut grove and beekeeping area. These spaces provide refuge for wildlife within a vineyard-dominated landscape.

Hares appear around the courtyard, roe deer feed on ripening grapes, badgers cross the vineyards and foxes sometimes emerge beside the paths at dusk. Ladybirds, butterflies, bees and earthworms are treated as signs of a living environment.

Robins and great tits nest among the vegetation, although both have become harder to encounter. Nesting boxes were therefore placed in the small wood below the cellar, with fat balls and seeds supplied in winter. A nature trail for families and children was also being prepared to explain the vineyard and its neighbouring habitats.