Last month I had the opportunity to meet with 4 BD winemakers in Provence and the southern Rhone. Two I would classify as top tier wineries and the other two as a notch below that. One had been doing BD for over 30 years and the others 4 to 8 years. My questions focused on their practices, mainly fungal control. Of course they have less fungal problems than in the eastern US where I am located. Wine prices ranged from US$4.50 to $25+, about half the price of what it is sold at in the US. All of the wineries were vary gracious (as we have found all the French people) with their time and wine. I'll summarize my takeaways:
Two used compost and two didn't siting the difficulty of spreading over many hectares. They used BC instead. Of the two that used compost one did 2 tons/hectare and the other 3 tons/hectare every 3 years. They used minimal to no additional fertilization and apparently only infrequent soil mineral analysis.
All used copper, sulfur, nettles and horsetail in some fashion. One sprayed nettles and willow tea (green parts) when the moon was furthest from the earth and horsetail when the moon nearest the earth. Since this guy made VG wine I put a lot of credibility in his statements. This is first time I have heard of willow being used. Anybody have any more info on willow tea?? Another recommended Bordeaux mixture+501+horsetail together but didn't specify a time to spray.
Only one was Demeter certified. All except one belonged to N. Joly biologic group
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jean-michel.parault/indexang.html
It was a tough job but someone had to do it :).
Dan Lynch
Long Mountain Vineyard
- Dandelion tea Lmvine1
- Dandelion tea Allan Balliett
- Re: Dandelion tea Gil Robertson
