LIFE VitiCaSe
How we turned vineyards into climate allies, redefining wine as a force for regeneration. Co-funded by the EU LIFE Programme,
Italy
International Carbon Registry – iCR
Image Line (Leader), CREA, Castello di Albola, Ruffino 1877, San Felice Wine Estates, UPA Siena, EZ Lab France
We bring together scientific innovation and the deep-rooted knowledge of winegrowers.
Soil is Earth’s largest carbon sink, but intensive agriculture can flip the balance, turning vineyards from carbon allies into carbon sources.
We launched a collaborative pilot to restore Soil Organic Carbon, applying science, digital tools, and market incentives to four wine estates.
No-tillage, cover crops combined with a IT platform and a replicable roadmap for carbon revenue.
SOC sequestration, enhanced fertility, and new business models for sustainable viticulture, making carbon an asset, not a burden.
Restoring Soil Organic Carbon
Enabling climate-smart viticulture
Builiding a scalable carbon economy
LIFE VitiCaSe is the first EU-backed project to prove that vineyards can grow more than grapes, they can grow carbon, too.
Through a partnership between premium Italian wineries (Castello d’Albola, Ruffino, and San Felice) and scientific leaders like CREA, the project has introduced carbon farming practices across 336 hectares.
SOC-rich practices, like no-tillage and cover cropping, restore the soil, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and generate high-integrity carbon credits.
The initiative is already demonstrating how climate goals can go hand-in-hand with terroir, tradition, and technology.
And the goal is scale: over 16,000 winegrowers are now within reach through the Image Line network, turning Italy’s vineyards into a living lab for sustainable land use.
Soil degradation in Italy is advancing fast, especially in high-value agricultural sectors like wine.
But LIFE VitiCaSe is changing that trajectory, starting from the ground up.
Using the RothC model and field sampling, the project is quantifying change precisely and transparently, while empowering growers with actionable tools.
SOC becomes more than a metric. It becomes a story: of renewed fertility, of long-term vision, of land that gives back.
16/09/2025
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