'Paysage culturel ... et vivant!' (above and below)
A living landscape!?
Many parts of the Loire, including some of the the vineyards, are very beautiful and along with its historical cultural heritage justifies the valley (between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes) being classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
But could you include the vineyards above, denuded of all life except for the vines, as 'a World Heritage' site? Although the photos used in this post were taken last week in some of the vineyards of St-Georges-sur-Cher, they could have been taken in a number of Loire vineyards. Nor are they a carefully selected minority – it is all too easy to find these desperately sad and shocking sights.
They mock and render hollow the resonant World Heritage citation:
'Paysage culturel ...
« Les paysages culturels sont des biens culturels et représentent les « œuvres conjuguées de l’homme et de la nature » mentionnées à l’article 1 de la Convention. Ils illustrent l’évolution de la société humaine et son établissement au cours du temps, sous l’influence des contraintes physiques et/ou des possibilités présentées par leur environnement naturel et des forces sociales, économiques et culturelles successives, externes aussi bien qu’internes. »
... évolutif ...
Un paysage culturel évolutif « résulte d’une exigence à l’origine sociale, économique, administrative et/ou religieuse et a atteint sa forme actuelle par association et en réponse à son environnement naturel. »
... et vivant
« Un paysage vivant est un paysage qui conserve un rôle social actif dans la société contemporaine, étroitement associé au mode de vie traditionnel et dans lequel le processus évolutif continue. »'
Blitzed ecosystem....
...but the cheapest form of weed control
The real cost of cheap wine
Of course there are many producers who look after their vines with care and how have moved away from using weedkillers indiscriminately. Some stopping using them altogether, while others restrict their use. Despite its often difficult climate, the Loire is one of the leaders in France of organic and biodynamic viticulture. Over the past 15 years or more there has been a growing move to grassing over vineyards or tilling the soil or a mixture of both.
It is not a surprise that there is a keen interest in developing oenotourisme (wine tourism) throughout the vineyards of the Loire. At the recent Vinocamp Loire we were all given a copy of an illustrated booklet called 2012-2013 Invitation dans le vignoble de Loire – Vignoble du patrimoine mondial. The booklet is a useful guide giving addresses of vignerons who are happy to welcome visitors.
The booklet's introduction claims: 'L'ensemble des appellations de Loire
peut revendique aujourd'hui avec fierte le patrimoine historique et culturel de la région.' (All appellations of the Loire can claim with
pride today to be part of the region’s historic, cultural heritage.)
Look through
the booklet and there are no photos of blitzed rows of vines. Instead there are
plenty of grassed over, living vineyards. Yet the reality in parts of the Loire
is that the majority of the vineyards have been blitzed by weedkiller leaving the vines isolated without any ecosystem to provide a natural balance.
It is, of course, all too easy and unfair to castigate producers who choose to use weedkiller indiscriminately as the cheap weed control option. We all bear a responsibility from the négociant who buys as cheap as they can, to the professional wine buyer who screws the price down only concerned to get cheap bottles onto retail shelves for us consumers who happily lap up cheap wine and think we have got a bargain.
Not forgetting the INAO (Institut National des Appellations d'Origine) who appear to be more concerned to ensure that all Touraine white wines should be Sauvignon Blanc based or to stamp out 100% Pinot Noir in newly granted Loire appellations rather than tackle the indiscriminate use of weedkillers. It is good to see, however, that the new regulations for Savennières Roche aux Moines bans their use and Saumur Le Puy Notre Dame imposes restrictions.
Equally writers, photographers and publishers of magazines and books tend to play a part in portraying the pretty side of viticulture and ignoring this:
\
'Empruntez, avec cette brochure*, la route des vignobles, et voyagez à travers une mosaïque de terroirs et des paysages majestueux'!
We are all of us complicit in this chain of Faustian pacts!
* 2012-2013: Invitation dans le vignoble de Loire.
