Laurent Bellion, Winegrower AOC Côtes-du-Rhône Villages Seguret

Year-round work in pictures

Throughout the year, the vine grows ... The grape changes color and matures. The activities follow the rhythm of the seasons.

Size

It is during the cold period when outdoor work is often invigorating. This activity is essential to obtain a quality harvest. It consists in cutting the branches (stems), so as to form the vines, and in choosing the “carriers”. These “carriers” are intended to accommodate the grapes. By applying the “Cordon de Royat” method, we prune leaving 6 carriers per vine, with 2 buds each. For my part, I cut manually using an electric pruner.

Debudding

It eliminates non-fruiting shoots from the vine and thus promotes the development of the parts that we want to keep from the vine. This operation promotes the ventilation of the bunches and tends to improve the spread of treatments, and thus better nourish the grapes. This disbudding is done manually in May / June.

Grassing

This technique is an alternative to tillage, and prevents soil erosion. This allows better lift of the tractor.

It consists in leaving the grass, while limiting the growth by grinding.

I practice it in all my plots, one row out of four, but also one row out of two, in the more vigorous plots. Which allows me to limit its vigor. This step is done mechanically using a grinder, in three passes during the year.

Green harvest

They are carried out on young vines, which produce a lot of grapes in the first years. These harvests consist in eliminating bunches, so as not to draw on the reserves of the vine. This work is done manually.

Leaf stripping

It is practiced on the most vigorous plots. Leaf stripping removes the leaves at the height of the grapes. The goal is to aerate the bunches, and thus improve the ripening of the grapes. But also a better effectiveness of treatments. It is done mechanically using a leaf stripper.

Topping or depointing

With the help of a topper, it allows the branches to be cut into vegetation. It limits the growth of the vine and thus facilitates the passage of the tractor. The topping is done mechanically

Harvest

This is the time of the harvest. It is then that we see the result of the work of the year.

They are done in September, until mid-October depending on the year. I make half of them by hand with a team of 8 people, and the other half by machine.

Soil work 1

Using a griffin This work is done from October to May. It consists in loosening the soil, in order to favor the penetration of the rains, and the fertilizing elements necessary for the vine. This is done mechanically

Soil work 2

Using a hoeing machine This cuts the grass in the inter row, part between the stumps where the tractor passes. This work reduces the spread of the grass, and thus avoids the nutritional competition of the vine, and makes the plot accessible and clean.

High Environmental Value certification

HVE for High Environmental Value. The little daisy-shaped macaroon is blooming more and more on wine bottles.

The promise of High Environmental Value is agriculture that integrates and develops biodiversity in the management of operations. It limits inputs as much as possible (phyto, fertilizers, energy, outdoor food, etc.), for agriculture that is both autonomous and not very degrading for soil, water, air.