glyphosate, roundup, is permitted but only one application a year. And now they’re backing away from reducing its use.
Support your favorite organic grower producers.
Wine-Searcher: Champagne Nukes its own Vineyards | Wine-Searcher News & Features.
https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2022/04/champagne-nukes-its-own-vineyards
This is terrible news! I’m a big believer in organics, both for my property and my consumption. FMIII will be able to give us a first-hand report in May.
Calling once annual herbicide use “nuking” is absolutely silly. Soil directed spray… and you then shouldn’t have to use your gas powered tractor and weed whacker as much. Nuking is an appropriate term for things like whole field fumigation, in which you actually kill all the living organisms… plants and insects and microbes oh my!
I don’t really know what to say here. It’s disappointing that we continue to see Roundup used on soil. I personally don’t support it, and while i have been called dogmatic about my stance in terms of buying only organic/bio Champagne producers, it’s a personal choice that I make and my dollars I spend. As I have said and will say again: if a producer is not going to take a declarative position on how they farm, then I won’t buy their products.
Everyone makes personal choice, to follow a set of values and principles that they believe are the right way forward. For me, that means buying and supporting producers who align with my values and who take the time and effort to declare it.
I think I know that you are not completely dogmatic, allowing for minor, emergency treatments to ensure a domaine’s survival. At least I think I recall a couple of producers you enjoy/support eschewing formal declaration of organic/biod because of that potential need.
The guy that’s just a grape farmer and paid by the ton is probably most susceptible.
There goes the “zero herbicide” goal for 2025…
Especially when it’s his only source of income.
Buek, why would someone use Roundup for a minor, emergency treatment?
When I am over there soon I am going to ask a lot of questions about this topic so I can refine my view and stay open to what is both practical and possible. But at a top level, as I said, if a producer wants to use this stuff or pay people to grow stuff for them that use it, I don’t want those producers in my glass nor my cellar.
Not specifically Roundup, but non-organics to keep their vintage viable.
Maybe you are dogmatic.
is there a list of organic Champagne producers?
This is the closest I’ve seen to such a list. I’m not certain how up to date it is.
I don’t see Roederer on the list, which may be because they focus on biodiversity as opposed to certified organic.
Look again. They’re on the list.
I just put my contacts in and scrolled to the bottom and now I see them on the “working on it” lists. Cristal has been fully biodynamic since the '12 vintage which is basically organic+ yet they did not make the organic champagne listing. I guess you need to get the actual certificate to be included.
For those that think organic is so much better, I’d encourage you to read science. Here’s a great overall read on the subject and history of it. It’s kinda long.
This topic illuminates for me the who and how, which is not that easy to sort. Example. The list that Warren provided is what I use, too. But, if you look at Piollot, who is in Polisot, he is certified but Dominique Moreau, who is married to Roland Piollot, her Marie-Courtin wines/domaine are missing from that listing. Yet, she is a committed biodynamic farmer.
We also have producers like Vilmart, who I recall was HVE certified but maybe I am wrong. Since he took over (25-30 years ago?), he has not used herbicide or pesticide on his plots around Rilly. Then there is Cedric Mousse, who I know is using plant applications and if I understand his approach too, he is sans herb/pest-icide. Are they organic? Or are they simply following a course of farming that may lack one certification or another, yet their end-result is that the shit is not on their grapes or soil.
I believe there is yet another accreditation, called Ampelos. Both HVE and Ampelos have some degree or commitment to not using the stuff.
For me, it’s hard to discern. I will be soon visiting all the producers I have listed in my post here, so we will see.
I’ve previously relayed my stories about herbicide after I got back from Champagne. One was at Vouette et Sorbee, where Bertrand is 100% farming without the stuff, and his family member who shares some vineyard (divided by a road), that family member’s plot is farmed with herbicide and the place did look ‘nuked’. Dead. The soil dead. My photos and own senses captured the distinction. And when I was at Gerbais in the south (he has a plot very close to Bouchard, it might be the Ursules plot in Celles-sur-Ource), there was a tractor going up the hill above the village, and Aurelien stops our conversation and says ‘we need to get out of here’. They were not spraying nettles or horesetail.
Frank,
Wait till you see the full space suit workers have to sealed in when applying certain organic chemicals to vines because they are so toxic to humans. But I see you’ve ignored that side of organic.
The real balance needs to be a combo of the two, not totally one or the other. As each has their own major downfalls on their own.
Andy, I have a large garden and many fruit trees. I farm it organic. I am not certified, of course. But I farm it without pesticide or other inputs. I even use a biodynamic compost and tea. So, I make that kind of commitment.
Organic is as much about what you put on as what you omit. I don’t need special gear or coverings to apply the stuff I do so I am not familiar with a spacesuit setup.
I’m here to express an opinion, and to learn. I’m dogmatic, yes. But I’m also open to what you have to say, and why. So, share with me what you are speaking about in terms of the toxic stuff that you mentioned.
I don’t own a vineyard or farm commercially, so I can’t comment on what challenges that entails. Similar to Frank, we have a large garden. We produce most of the meat, eggs, vegetables, fruits, and berries that we eat throughout the year. We’ve never used synthetic chemicals anywhere near where we produce food. Our compost system makes soil of incredible fertility. We’ve found no need to provide any other chemical inputs, including organic ones. Weeds are dealt with manually. A mix of dish soap and water controls the aphids. Cats control the moles. Is this dogmatic? I simply believe that chemicals used in agriculture are not something that I want to ingest. And my property looks gorgeously lush.
Of course, there are always trade offs since we don’t live in the Garden of Eden. Dams and Wind Farms might be better than coal plants, but they are not without negatives too. I have a gravel driveway that I use to treat with Roundup. I found that I had to spray it four times a year at least. Now it is green and I hit it with the mower for two minutes twice a month. Some gas fumes? Yep. And the driveway is absorbing some carbon and reducing runoff. We do what we can.
Edit: Another thing that is very effective is using companion plants (such as Nasturtium and Marigolds) to discourage pests.