To make a good wine, we need rich and healthy soils as a united and voluntary team. Then, we want to leave a land full of future for our 7 children. This is why we are determined to protect, preserve and enrich our terroir. So how can we make the planet more beautiful?
The treatments, rich
Our objective: no synthetic products or metals in our soils ...
For almost 20 years, we have been working our vines in conservation agriculture which borrows certain techniques from organic farming or biodynamics. Our goal: no synthetic products or metals in our floors. For the 2020 season, we have planned 8 treatments based on essential oils (citrus, algae, etc.) which should be enough to accompany our vines. Hope that nature will be lenient.
Weeding, healthy
In order to clean up our soils and naturally protect our vines, we have sown oats between the rows. When it grows, it suffocates the weeds. Unfortunately, she also suffocated the young plants, which were not strong enough to fight. So since then, still no weedkiller, but we button, scrub, claw, mow ... and it is only with regular tillage that we clean them.
We weed exclusively mechanically ...
Helpful workers
Since several years, we have been offering a specific welcome for blue tits and bats. A blue tit eats more than 500 insects per day while a bat devours 3,000 insects each night. We want to regulate, by this natural means the impact of pests, on our domain. The shelters were developed with a wood and a thickness corresponding to the demands of each species and placed to accommodate in the best possible conditions our "natural workers".
Blue tits and bats are welcome ...
Electricity, surplus
For almost 5 years, 240 m2 of photovoltaic panels installed on the roof of our cellars allow us, from September, to be positive in electrical consumption and therefore to contribute, humbly but naturally, to the global production of electricity needed by the planet.
For more than 5 years, we have been producing more electricity than we use ...
A prolific paper
When we write to you, all our documents are made of recyclable paper . Some are entirely recycled paper , others are… bamboo. Very resistant, bamboo grows without pesticides, fertilizers or any chemical product. It is the fastest growing plant in the world, gaining up to one meter per day. It can thus be harvested several times a year. Another advantage is that it generates more oxygen than deciduous trees and has the capacity to limit soil erosion and restore those that are impoverished thanks to its many rhizomes.
We love to write to you, on bamboo ...
A clean car
As a good engineer, Michel Marengo is always looking for innovative solutions. So he bought a 100% electric car. It now emits no polluting particles when it travels. And if you have also purchased an electric car or a rechargeable hybrid car, during your visit to Château Hourtin-Ducasse, we provide you with 2 charging stations free of charge.
Come and charge in electricity at home ...
Some obvious, obvious
Plant cover by natural herbicide during the winter period. Waste management with systematic sorting. Bottle donations to support key associations and volunteers in our region (firefighters, Clermont-Ferrand palliative care center, gendarmerie, town hall, various events, etc.). Preference given to local suppliers (for vines, cellars and receptions in the domain). Resting part of the estate with unworked plots. Optimization of the team's working conditions: rooms equipped at their sole disposal, adaptation of schedules according to the weather, training, etc.
Obviously ...
A future, to be defined
Always curious about a better understanding of our terroir, we like to try new approaches to the vine and wine. Electric wave sensors on the vines, alcoholic fermentations in closed barrels, sound waves to strengthen the natural defenses of our feet ... These experiences have one goal: to produce better wine. If these are not always fruitful, they are always rewarding.
And then, treatments with algae, robots, chickens ...
We learn just as much from our mistakes that of his successes. So we keep trying ...
