The Project carried out by Bodegas Ochoa and researchers from UPNA (Universidad Publica de Navarra) had the objective to quantify the amount of CO2 eliminated from the atmosphere with green covers.  The result: 6.5t/hectare from Ochoa’s vineyards.

This study took place in the parcel Santa Cruz property of Bodegas Ochoa in Traibuenas (Navarra, Spain). The grape variety planted in this soil is Tempranillo.

The study with green covers in our parcel Finca Santa Cruz was compared to a control parcel with traditional system of working the soil. Researchers could observe the evolution and improvement of the vineyard and soil with this implementation.

New systems of irrigation and different management of the soil are still on study in order to obtain a higher quality of the grapes and therefore of our wines. 
Each one of these systems has been designed for different viticulture objectives to obtain higher quality grapes, which at the same time are beneficial for fixing CO2 in the soil.

RESULTS: CO2 elimination and organic materials.
In general, the green covers implemented in the vineyard increased the quantity of organic materials in the soil, especially in the first stratus (0-5cm). This meant as well an increase in the quality of the soil.

In order to translate this information into figures, we measure the amount of tons of atmospheric CO2 by the photosynthesis of the vineyards.

By checking the control parcel with the rest, we could measure 6.5t of CO2 are fixed in the soil per hectare and year.

Therefore:

The use of green covers improves the quality and the concentration of the Tempranillo grapes, reducing the yields.

-         The use of green covers in the vineyard for 5 years has increased the chemical, physical and biological quality of the soil.

-         The amount of CO2 kept in the soil and therefore eliminated from the atmosphere is approximately 6.5tons of CO2 per hectare and year after 5 years of use of green covers.

-         Given the yielding of parcel Santa Cruz and the data obtained in this project, we can conclude that every bottle of OCHOA TEMPRANILLO CRIANZA that is consumed, we eliminate 1KG of CO2 from the atmosphere.