Touraine gets ready to welcome its Easter visitors with orange vines

 Weed killered vines in Montlouis

'préserver notre environnement naturel'

 

Did UNESCO really classify these blitzed vines as 

'Vignoble du Patrimoine Mondial'?

It's a sad sight driving through some of the vineyards of Touraine at the moment with the number of vineyards that have been totally blitzed with weedkiller. Is this really what Easter visitors to the Loire are looking forward to seeing?

The Syndicat de Montlouis is naturally keen to promote the quality of its terroir and its vines and there are many dynamic producers here, who take care of their vines and would not destroy the biodiversity with the wholesale application of weedkiller. Sadly there are also too many parcels of blitzed vines, where it is highly likely that the vine roots will be superficial and will not 'plunge' into the subsoil and rock below.   

'Il est aujourd’hui important pour nous de défendre ce patrimoine, d’améliorer durablement la qualité de nos  vins et de préserver notre environnement naturel.

Ainsi nous pourrons continuer à vivre de notre travail et transmettre à nos enfants un héritage inestimable.'

http://www.vinsmontlouissurloire.fr/syndicat-aoc-montlouis-sur-loire/philosophie-missions/

'Un terroir singulier… 

Nos vignes sont plantées sur des sols composés, en surface, d’argile, de sable et de silex. Mais ce qui fait la particularité de notre terroir c’est le sous-sol dans lequel plongent les racines du Chenin. Le Tuffeau, appelé également craie ou calcaire du Turonien, y règne en maitre. Accessible à une profondeur variable suivant le secteur, il transmet à nos vins finesse et force de caractère.

Cet ensemble permet à nos vignes de profiter au mieux de la chaleur du soleil, emmagasiné le jour et restitué la nuit par les silex. Le sous sol régule parfaitement l’apport en eau et en minéraux, évitant à nos vignes de souffrir de stress hydrique et favorisant l'équilibre de la plante. Des conditions parfaites pour la production de grands vins blancs de Chenin.'

(http://www.vinsmontlouissurloire.fr/aoc-montlouis-sur-loire/une-mosaique-de-terroirs/) 

 Fortunately in Montlouis not everyone blitzes their vines

More orange Montlouis

'et transmettre à nos enfants un héritage inestimable.'

Orange vines in Francueil (AC Touraine)

above and below

It is easy to blame the vignerons but too poor and difficult vintages – 2012 and 2013 – have left them short of wine and money. In AC Touraine it was already difficult with the low prices paid for wine, especially to those who sell to the négoce or are members of a cave coopérative. Blitzing your vines with weedkiller is the cheap, easy option and customers who want bargain wines at prices below or close to the break-even point have to recognise that other methods of weed control are substantially more costly. 

Cheap Loire Sauvignon is likely to come from orange vineyards.

    

 

Orange vines@Saumur: a curious way to celebrate biodiversity

Use of weedkiller@Château de Saumur

The Syndicat of Saumur-Champigny producers is proud to be championing biodiversity:

'Le vignoble de Saumur Champigny est la première Appellation Contrôlée à s’être engagée dans un programme de biodiversité sur l’ensemble de son territoire. Les viticulteurs se sont unis pour implanter un réseau de Zones écologiques Réservoirs, à travers les neuf communes de l’appellation. Les Zones Ecologiques Réservoirs ou ZER sont des espaces « non cultivés », sans apports de pesticides et de fertilisants (haies, abords enherbées, murets…).' See here.

Unfortunately they appear not to have told La Ville de Saumur, who I gather look after the vines right of the Château beside the parking where many thousands of visitors stop during a year. Here on strips close to the vines weedkiller has been used as the grass has that tell-tale agent orange colour. I hope the Syndicat will point out to La Ville that while they may think that using weedkiller makes the vines look neat and tidy, it is counter to the message of biodiversity that the local producers are trying to promote.

Desherbage – this year's fashionable colour: rusty pink

Vineyards in Saint-Georges-sur-Cher

The fashionable colour for vineyards blitzed with weedkiller (desherbage total) appears to be this shade of rusty pink. Less virulent in colour than last year's agent orange, visitors to the Loire: UNESCO World Heritage may find this year shade more restful on the eyes.

Attractively pink...

A touch of our old friend – Agent Orange

Not sure whether Agent Orange is the next stage beyond rusty pink or whether there has been a special offer this year on another weedkiller product.

Report now finished on visit to recent visit to Clos Roche Blanche and Didier Barouillet's proposals on what products and practices ought to be banned if they want to have the appellation contrôlée.