Calls for a return to the agriculture of yesteryear, more virtuous, more local, more human, are multiplying. There’s no doubt that for many of us it feels like the stuff of dreams. For me, any new model of regenerative farming must be inspired by the techniques of yesteryear, enriched by scientific discoveries and calibrated to […]
Each winter some 200 ewes and lambs call our organic vineyards home, where they feast upon wild vegetation. The troop has the run of a one-hectare block of vines for about two days, before the shepherd moves them to a new block. When the vegetation gets out of hand, we only have a few options: […]
At the cusp of autumn, I will try, as usual, to give you my read on this 2018 vintage. The vinification isn’t yet complete, and even if it was a vintage that often left us puzzled, its current contours confirm its very seductive quality. After a very “low yield” 2017 vintage, the budbreak started vigourously […]
At Château de Nages, we’ve always known that winemaking is an ancient story here. What a surprise when it was revealed before our very eyes! A few years ago, when construction work at the estate required archaeological excavations, INRAP’s research showed that some of our plots were on a wine-growing site dating back to ancient […]
As life today becomes increasingly complex, we are all looking to simplify choices, whether at home, at work or even in our free time. We all want to believe that in response to the onslaught of information and the growing number of decisions to be made, a standardized and systematic approach is a factor of […]
We hear it all the time: eating organic is more expensive! It’s true that most organic products are more expensive than their conventional counterparts. But are they really? Not if we integrate the environmental, health and social costs of conventional agriculture. Impact on the quality of water: the best quantified effects are those related to […]
I’d like to introduce you to an occurrence called shattering, an event that happens in the lifecycle of a vine that is often perceived as bad news but can instead be a factor of quality. I made a little video about it a few weeks ago while I was in a young Grenache vineyard (4th […]
A few days ago, while walking a row of our parcel of baby Mourvèdre I couldn’t resist taking this picture. It shows how exceedingly well our September cover crop seeding has taken off. The intelligent use of cover crops not only respects our appellation’s engagement to ensure ecological diversity in our vineyards: the mixture of […]
How can we protect our vineyards from the dreaded vine moth larvae without using insecticides? These larvae can cause significant damage to our grapes and create gateways to disease. To contain the populations of this insect, we use a technique that is approved for organic farming. The fight by “mating disruption” is our answer. In order to be fertilized, the female moths release of sex hormones (or pheromones) that enable males to locate them more […]
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