Simonit: go back to work in the vineyard

Marco Simonit, CEO of Simonit&Sirch Vine Master Pruners, intervenes in the debate provoked by the news that Martin Foradori Hofstätter, a famous winegrower from Termeno, has even had to hire a plane to bring a group of female workers specialized in vineyard work from Romania, as he couldn't find equally competent staff in Italy. "The problem is emerging dramatically in this moment of pandemic, which has blocked the borders - says Marco Simonit - Nature is not stopping, companies need skilled and skilled workers in the vineyards and they can't find them in Italy, because Italians are snubbing these jobs, even though there is a lot of talk about returning to agriculture, green work and so on.

 

"It is claimed that after this pandemic we will have to start again from the land and agriculture, which will become central again, and I fully agree - he continues - But the Italians are absent. It is necessary to recreate a "know-how in the vineyard" that is being lost and that is therefore necessarily entrusted to foreigners. This is not the case in France, for example, where the skills in the vineyard are just as important as those in the cellar, and the staff involved in agricultural work is local, has great experience and preparation and is an added value of a company. “

 

"I want to be clear - he concludes decisively - this is not just a post Covid 19 emergency issue, but a more general and very serious matter, which must be addressed once and for all.  In order to create a true Made in Italy wine, we have to start from here, working between the rows of vines again. Sustainable work, local, without environmental impact, healthy because it's done in the open air and, in these times, also safe because it's easy to maintain the distance. I can only repeat: prepare yourselves, learn. There's work in wineries as long as you want it!"

 

Since 2009 Simonit&Sirch have opened the Italian School of Vine Pruning and now the courses are also online. "For those who want to learn a qualified job, and therefore also well paid, there are all the tools to be able to do it - send -. For years we have been forming teams of skilled workers for the main wineries in the world, who use our advice because they are well aware that work in the vineyards (which are their great assets) cannot be entrusted to unprepared personnel".