The aim of manuring is to give the vine all the nutritive elements it needs, making sure it is done with respect for the environment, and never to excess, which would increase the vigour to the detriment of quality. This dilemma is a good example of the type of question often asked in a great, old vineyard where the search for a subtle balance has always been the aim of the way we work. Firstly, the vine plant needs regular and moderate nourishing, to compensate for the losses it has incurred in producing grapes for us : in other words, we have to reward it for its efforts !

So-called long-term manuring should also sometimes be carried out before a new vineyard is planted, with the aim here of giving back structure and life to the soil, which has literally been tired out by over fifty years of incessant ploughing.

In any case, we only use organic fertilizers, whose effect is long-term and are naturally integrated into the environment. Most of this still comes in the form of cattle manure, produced by our own herd and composted for at least one year. Even though the agronomic justification for these massive and very expensive contributions is no longer as clear as it once was, they nevertheless give us a welcome feeling of security, having always been used in the past, in an area where we are seldom sure whether decisions taken today will be justified in the long term.