Farm Agr. Camillo Montori: For more than 50 years with Martignani, the story of a friendship

Controguerra – Teramo – Abruzzo (Italy) This is where we meet to learn about the history of the Farm Camillo Montori. A story tied to the history of Martignani for so many years. Now we will find out why.

Controguerra is a pretty town in the province of Teramo (Italy), a beautiful old village that belongsto the Union of Municipalities of the Vibrata Valley. With hills covered in vineyards, Controguerra has an important tradition in viticulture, but not only. With its strategic location, it has also become a popular tourist destination in recent years.

It was in this context that Camillo Montori Winery, a winery strongly tied to the territory with a long family history, was born in the 1960s/70s.camillo moroni winery Already Camillo Montori’s father, a prominent Ascoli lawyer, managed the family’s Masserie, which later became the site of the present winery. Camillo Montori, in fact, creates a company that respects tradition but with an important innovative component that allows it to find its own identity in the world of quality and excellence in Italian viticulture.

From the beginning of this adventure, Camillo Montori believed in Martignani. Thanks to his conversations with Eng. Claudio Martignani, founder of our company, who then became friends over the years.

“If you have to use Martignani as you would use any sprayer, don’t buy it, you don’t want to.”

Camillo Montori Winery and Martignani

To get a good understanding of the history of the Winery from Abruzzo, we spoke with Guido Lelii, who has been in charge of mechanization and labor management at the company for 20 years.

He told us how the tradition and growth of this winery has always been linked to Martignani. In fact, he revealed an anecdote that Mr. Montori often repeats. At the beginning of buying Martignani, in 1969, the owner was “a little afraid” to deal with Low Volume. In those years it was quite a revolution to make this choice, and Eng. Claudio Martignani told him. “if you have to use Martignani as you would use any sprayer, don’t buy it, it’s not worth it.” And from there on, he realized that Martignani technology was exactly what made the difference in his company.

Camillo Montori Farm has 50 hectares of vineyards and 5 hectares of traditional olive trees. Always treated with Martignani sprayers, as Lelii explains. In fact, the first car, the “great-grandmother” as he calls her, was purchased in 1969. To date, with more than 50 years of age, it is little used but still works well.

Then the company purchased a Whirlwind B612 1000 liter Compact sprayer, in 1996, and a Whirlwind M612 1000 liter Shuttle in 2021.

Typically, treatments on vineyards are done at a speed of 6.5 km/h and a volume of between 50 and 100 liters/hectare in alternate rows. In high season even at 200 liters/hectare.

“With 1,000 liters we treat 10 hectares.”

One of the first things Guido Lelii wanted to point out was that last year, which was a difficult year and one that put many producers in a difficult situation, their grape production increased “by 20 percent without having had any kind of problem.”

He then adds that, “we have an advantage because we have the filling points in place, but we don’t actually need them. With 1000 liters we treat 10 hectares. This is a fundamental water saving but also a time saving. The speed with which we work is exceptional.”

Guido says he is very happy with Martignani “especially for distribution. In our neck of the woods there are a lot of colleagues who never believe us when I tell them we distribute with so little water. But we have been working this way for 3 generations and have never had any phytosanitary problems.” In fact, it was Lelii himself upon his arrival at Camillo Montori Winery, to start working with low volume and electrostatic charge. There goes the benefits.

Our client explains that “Martignani works well and its technology makes a difference. Thanks to the two outlets located at the bottom of the machine, the cluster is hit by a current of air with a direction from the bottom to the top. Even with a lot of vegetation, there are no dye coverage problems. We, for example, have vineyards with 4 meters of curtain, and the sprayer works very well without difficulty.”. He adds that. “the dye coverage is uniform over the leaf”.

Saving with Martignani

Many customers from all over the world have confirmed to us that once the machine has paid for itself in the first few years after purchase, an average of €250 per hectare per year can be saved by using Martignani sprayers. This figure includes the costs of diesel, labor, water, workers, etc…In this regard, Lelii says that “the figure is very likely,” and adds that “only those who use it badly do not save like this. We have three machines, the oldest one we use very little but the one we bought in 1996 (now 28 years old) works 100 percent.”

It is certainly very satisfying to find new customers and to make more and more people understand the Martignani system and all its advantages, but talking to people who have been using Martignani for more than 50 years is a great victory. Especially if it is such an important and prestigious winery as Camillo Montori.

Professionals in the field like Guido Lelii really believe this, as we do, and have been able to confirm over the years and in his own fields (as well as his own pockets) that everything we say is true.

Thanks to Guido Lelii and Camillo Montori Winery for taking the time and always believing in Martignani.

Martignani, for a greener world!