From Winemakers to Breeders

Podere Le Ripi presents biodynamics as the opposite of a wine-only monoculture. Ancient olive groves, fruit trees, forest, vineyards and farm animals build complexity, while the property’s status as a natural reserve is intended to protect its ecosystem.

The animal sanctuary, founded about three years earlier, contained 30 chickens producing roughly 30 eggs per day, donkeys Camilla and Tranquilla, goats, one cow, five sheep and the ram Rocco; all had been adopted from the meat industry. After the sheep were left unshorn, the team unexpectedly discovered a newborn lamb. Matteo, Alessandro and David traced its mother, and Alessandro bottle-fed it overnight before successfully reuniting the pair. A second ewe was then found to be pregnant. Donkeys, goats and the cow subsequently acted as companions and protectors for the lambs, illustrating the interdependence sought in the farm organism.