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Vineyard management

Vineyard management

We have always adopted a sustainable approach to vine-growing for a policy of quality and respect for the environment.

The estate received in 2012 the HEV certification (High Environmental Value farm) – Level 3* (the highest level) and and is ISO 14001** certified with regard to the control of our environmental impact.

In 2021, we decided to continue this commitment with the launch of our Organic Conversion – objective achieved at the end of 2024 with the obtaining of our Organic Agriculture certification.

To maintain our policy of quality and respect for the environment, our methods are primarily designed to protect our soils. They include total cessation of herbicides, alternation of grassing and soil work, limitation of biological treatments and limited use of organic fertilizers to the strictest needs of the vine. We also promote biodiversity and practice sowing of plant covers in the vines to increase life in our soils.

This quality policy is consequently translated into carefully controlled yields, backed up, if necessary, by “ébourgeonnages” (removal of excess buds in May to reduce in advance a production that appears to be overloaded) and “green harvesting” (removal of excess bunches between mid-July and mid-August to reduce the yield and homogenize the grapes maturity for the harvests).

In addition, one of our main challenges is the transformation of the vineyard into high density. Château de Parenchère benefits from a very old vineyard, with vines over sixty years old.

If we want to preserve this old age in the vineyard, we now favour high planting densities (5,000 feet /HA) to achieve average yields of 45 hl / ha with a low load per foot. This helps us to obtain more density and volume in our wines, thus constantly improving their quality.

This replanting is done only very gradually so as to preserve the highest proportion possible of older vines.

*” HEV – Level 3 ” : The farm environmental certification is a voluntary approach which aims to identify and promote particularly environmentally-friendly practices. Level 3 is the maximum level of certification, which covers four key areas: biodiversity conservation, plant protection strategy, management of fertilizer use and management of water.

** ” ISO 14001 “: Château de Parenchère is a member of the first association of Bordeaux wines certified ISO 14001:2015.