Agriculture Minister Stéphane Le Foll was in Faugères last Tuesday to visit four winegrowers who sow grass and herbs in their vineyards. Innovative and ecological.
“We are the children of a wine growers generation who thought that a good vineyard always had to be plowed well. When they passed one of our vineyards, they even stopped the car to rip out grassbuckles here and there. “
Four winegrowers from Faugères have already laid aside this type of floor care for a long time. Frédéric Albaret, Antoine Rigaud, Boris Fiegel and Cédric Guy even do the exact opposite: They sow grass and herbs between the rows of the vines to keep the soil alive, to regulate the water balance, to skip herbicides and reduce other pesticides. An idea that may seem daring after decades of chemistry in the vineyard but which is accompanied witrh scientific research and supported by the gouvernment.
Midi Libre, November 26, 2015