herbicides | amarchinthevines

Two years ago I wrote an article whose title was a quote by my historical hero Louis Pasteur, “Wine is the most healthful and most hygienic of beverages.” Well my recent visit to the Languedoc gave me cause to doubt that Pasteur was wrong, in at least half of his statement.

A friend (Chris) drew my attention to a website showing the quality of water in every commune throughout France. The results for the area of the Hérault centred around Puimisson, Puissalicon, Espondeilhan and Thézan-lès-Béziers showed that they along with other communes in the area have poor quality drinking water.

herault

So why is that? Simply put it is agricultural pollutants and in this area what that means is pollutants from vineyards. In particular it means pesticides getting into the drinking water.

puimisson

The area is full of vineyards, mostly managed under a régime of chemical intervention. Weedkillers, herbicides, fertilisers are all used to ensure maximum yields as vignerons are paid by the quantity of grapes they produce, though they do have to respect the maximum yields permitted by, for example, AOP regulations. Unfortunately when it rains, and it often rains very hard in the Hérault, the chemicals are often washed from the vineyards onto the surrounding roads and into the drains and sewers.

I was talking to an Italian vigneron in January and he was telling me that, as an organic producer, he was shocked at the last vendanges. His lovely grapes were growing on vines which had already begun to shed their leaves or were changing colour as the energy of the plant had been channelled into the fruit rather than the leaves. He felt somewhat embarrassed as his neighbours’ vines were pristine, bright green and laden with grapes. That was the result of the chemicals and nitrates sprayed on to those vines, whereas his were treated only with organic tisanes.

p1010061

That is the same experience which I have observed in the area around Mas Coutelou. Jeff’s vineyards are surrounded in the main by conventionally tended vines. I remember him telling me as we stood in Rec D’Oulette (the Carignan vineyard) to look around at the bright green sea of vines with his own vines looking rather tired in comparison.

Well, the chemicals which make the greenery and heavy crops are polluting the water. The drinking water of the very place where the vignerons and their families live. When Pasteur spoke about wine being healthy and hygienic he was speaking at a time when most drinking water was polluted, even untreated. He was right, wine was healthier and cleaner than the water. And now, ironically, it is wine production which is making the water of ‘very bad quality’. Nevermind the 100+ additives which are legally allowed into wine, the wine is also a pollutant. That is why I challenge Pasteur’s claim.

I am amazed that this report created so little reaction, surely the very water which nourishes the vines and slakes the thirst of wine producers should be be safe to drink? At what cost are we producing wine unless producers take more seriously the effects of their farming methods. And you wonder why I prefer to drink mainly organic and natural wines?

April 17, 2015
by amarch34 3 Comments

Vineyard practice – observations

Version française

The photo above was taken around my village of Margon this week (April 14th). The vineyard is run by a well known domaine in the area. The vines were not pruned and are now covered in foliage, showing them to be Chardonnay. Many leaves are quite yellow suggesting a disease. Is this why they were not pruned? If so should they not have been grubbed up rather than left to spread the problem?

I shared the photo above back in February, taken in a vineyard around Alignan du Vent again in a well known domaine (different to the one above). New vines were being sprayed with herbicide to get rid of weeds and grass, competition for the new vines. Well the photo below, taken on April 8th, is of the same vines and shows the vines and dead grass, though it appears more like a moonscape.

Finally, I also published this photo below in February. Taken in Laurens, part of the Faugères area. I was curious to know why the guyot vine was trained to the ground. Jonathan Hesford suggests it may be part of a nursery, to develop new vines. I would certainly take Jonathan’s word, any other observations?

December 4, 2014
by amarch34 3 Comments

A walk in the vines

(En français)

The Languedoc Roussillon region was struck by huge storms on November 28th. Lightning and thunder which lasted almost a whole day, torrential rain all day (over 210mm at Bédarieux), hail for half an hour, winds well over 100kph. Even local people were surprised by the storm. There are some scary pictures on Midi Libre.

Outside our door in Margon

Puimisson, the stream in the background reached the height of the tree branches

Jeff pointing to debris from the stream in the tree branches

A walk around Margon, our home village, 3 days later showed that many vineyards had been damaged. At this time of the year the vines themselves are not so vulnerable of course, there are no grapes left on there. However, the soils themselves were damaged in many places by erosion.

2. Water standing in the vines

1. Clay (argile) run off on the road

Much of our area has clay soils which are not the easiest to drain. However, many modern agricultural practices exacerbate this problem. Using heavy machinery such as tractors, harvesting machines and large sprayers means that the soils become compacted and, therefore, even more impermeable (photo 2). Inappropriate use of herbicides and weed killers to get rid of grass and other plants means that the soil has nothing to bind it together and, consequently, heavy rain will cause erosion as we see in photo 1. Overploughing will combine both problems.

I remember when I first visited French vineyards 30 years ago that most were like this. Times have changed though and more artisanal, more environmentally aware viticulturists have realised that the soil has to be treated with respect. In a previous post I mentioned that the soil experts Claude and Anne Bourguignon gave a talk recently which I attended. They explained that the soil is what gives a crucial 6% of the vine’s needs which can make all the difference in terms of flavour and quality. Vine roots need to reach down into the soil to extract the water and minerals which they require to grow and to fruit. They confirmed that the best practice is what many winemakers have been doing in recent years. Allowing grass and other plants to grow amongst the vines brings many benefits:

binding the soil, making it stronger and less prone to erosion
stronger soil makes it easier to withstand machinery
competition for nutrients drives the vine roots deeper where more of the species which benefit the plants live
retaining moisture in summer which can also be used by the vines
providing shelter to other wildlife which eat the insects that damage vines and grapes

Covered vineyard with no sign of erosion

Ruts developing between vines

The photos above show how two parcels of vines just metres apart responded to the storms. The difference is obvious.

Vines with shallow roots do not access the deeper minerals and ecosystem. The roots also overheat being nearer to the surface and this can mean that they shut down some of their work and grapes will not ripen so well or evenly.

Yet there are vignerons in the area who have installed or are installing irrigation. This can only compound the problem in a region where there are occasional droughts but not on the scale of Australia for example.

Jeff Coutelou reported to me that there had been no erosion in his vines unlike those of some of his neighbours, the reason may be seen in the photos below.

A stark contrast between the Mas Coutelou vineyard and that of his neighbour

Irrigation pipes run along the vines. Look closely at the channel which has been cut into the soil by the rain.

Water flowing off vineyards which have had the grass removed

The run off from the vines has caused a new stream and channels

Meanwhile Jeff’s vines have drained and there is no damage to soil below

Vine roots washed into the new stream next to the neighbours’ land

Biodiversity – analysis showed over 30 types of grass in one square metre of Jeff’s vineyard.

One sad casualty of the storms was the tree with a bat shelter installed by Jeff. Bats are good friend to vines as they eat many insects which might damage them or their grapes. Encouraging them and other friendly wildife, such as wagtails and hoopoes, helps to keep the grapes in good health. Unfortunately the tree, which was dead, was uprooted and so a new bat home will be established soon.

Bat shelter

And finally how to control that grass and plant life? Ploughing or working the soil is needed at times but there are some novel alternatives. At Mas Gabriel a local farmer brings his sheep into the vineyard at this time of year. And then, as I was driving to Cabrieres the other day I came across this.