organic culture
There are no specifications for wine; nonetheless wine growers thoroughly respect the techniques related to cultivating the soil and the wine making process according to traditional methods. Thus, bio wine presently does not exist as such since the wine making process is not yet regulated. One speaks about “wine that results from grapes produced in biological agriculture”.
Essentially, what differentiates the wine produced using the methods of biological agriculture is the word respect : for the soil, for the vine, for the biological guidelines and methods, all this for the respect of the environment.
We started the biological culture of our vines in 2000, purely as an experiment over 5 hectares; this year we have managed to develop this type of ecological culture over 80 hectares, i.e. 60% of the whole of our vineyard.
The remaining 40% are managed according to the local TYFLO reasoned control charter. The final certification was
granted to us by ECOCERT
(body for the assessment of biological agriculture) in 2004 after 3
years of conversion.
REspect for the soil :
It consists in cultivating the soils as naturally as possible.
Thus
at the Domaines Schlumberger, the rows of our vineyard are ploughed
using our draught horses. Every area where access is possible
(depending on the slopes) we perform inter-vine ploughing (method that
consists in ploughing the strips of soil between the vines,
inaccessible with the plough).
Weeding allows to keep the soil mellow and ventilated.
The
Domaines Schlumberger uses its own organic manures and the compost is
home made using a combination of marc, straw and horse droppings.
Grassing between the vines provides a better structure to the soil and also acts as a natural fertiliser.
RESPECT for the vine :
Pruning of the vine is performed manually; it allows to restrict the
production for each vine stock thus avoiding an overload that would be
detrimental to the quality of the grapes. At the Domaines Schlumberger
we privilege short pruning in order to restrict the yields.
The
“green harvest” (process that consists in cutting grapes in order to
restrict the load) should be only exceptional. Indeed, regular use of
this process tires the vine and makes it lose its vigour in the long
run.
The watchword of the biological processes is to prevent rather than cure.
The leaf stripping techniques performed at the end of August have
proven preventive effects. They allow improved air circulation and
limit the vigour of the vine.
At the Domaines Schlumberger,
treatments against mildew or oidium are made using “Bordeaux Mixture”
(mixture of lime and copper sulphate) and are decided on a case-by-case
basis according to the need.
respect of the wine making methods :
There is no certified
regulation at present. It is thus a question of vinifying the grapes in
biological culture as naturally as possible (minimum intervention of
the oenologist).