The roots of success
The roots of Simonit's success began as a young man, when he became fascinated by old vines, which he sketched in his spare time. Whilst doing this, he discovered that some were more vital than others and that there were large pruning wounds on many of the vines’ trunks. He suspected the vines’ quality and longevity must be shaped by the type of pruning used to bring them into shape at the beginning of a new year.
Eventually through trial and error, Simonit developed a pruning system – now known as "gentle pruning" – that inflicts less major injury on the vines while guaranteeing the build-up of the important, healthy and vital wood mass.
Innovation comes full circle
The Simonit&Sirch method has now been adopted by wineries around the world, including renowned châteaux in Bordeaux such as Angelus, Pichon-Longueville, Lynch-Bages and Yquem, Leflaive in Burgundy, Roederer in Champagne and the Symington Group in Portugal.
While he might have built a global pruning empire advising more than 150 winemaking companies, Simonit's roots are in Italy where he was born and where the company has a pruning academy in Friuli, on northeastern border with Slovenia and Austria.
So it was fitting his homeland is among those to recognise his achievements by presenting him with the Vinitaly International Innovation 2023 prize in Verona on 2 April at the Vinitaly wine fair. The award was presented by Italy’s Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida and Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano.
