In the countryside using chemicals is certainly an easy way to defend the vineyards from diseases. But many people are suspicious about treatments with industrial products, especially pesticide treatments, and hold them responsible for environmental pollution and poorer quality agricultural produce.
Some producers have changed to a type of production which pays the closest possible attention to natural balances; others have been encouraged by the European Union's new agricultural policy which can be summed up with a number - 2078. This is the law which provides for assistance for those meeting set production criteria while maintaining cultivation techniques which are compatible with protection of the environment and natural resources.
Many farms have converted completely to organic techniques; in these cases the farm is associated with a control organisation (of which there are several in Italy) which certifies that all associates' production activities and awards the produce a stamp guaranteeing this. But is wine made organically better or worse? Maybe it is better to put prejudice aside and just taste it.