The Poggio Antico Journal – Ep. 8: A Vision for the Very, Very Long Term

After a year of international travel and recognition among Corriere della Sera’s top 100 Italian vignaioli, Pier Giuseppe D'Alessandro turns to the long-term Madre project. Planting began in 2025 and is expected to finish in 2027. Four blocks use different training systems alongside a traditional comparison block, allowing their responses to climate change to be observed in the same Montalcino context. All supporting structures are adjustable so they can follow vine development over a planned life of at least 40 years. Suitable Brunello fruit may appear in five or six years, but bottles may not reach the market for ten or eleven. Madre is presented as an investment in ideas, observation and future winegrowers rather than in immediate results.