{"id":23325,"date":"2022-03-30T17:42:41","date_gmt":"2022-03-30T16:42:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/les-pieds-sur-terre\/"},"modified":"2022-03-31T10:28:47","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T09:28:47","slug":"les-pieds-sur-terre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/en\/home\/cos-chronicle\/les-pieds-sur-terre\/","title":{"rendered":"Feet on the Ground"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row css_animation=”fadeInDown”][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”custom-intro”]I<\/span>t all begins with the soil. Soil is a crucial part of winegrowing, key to managing plant cover in the vineyard and regulating the vigor of the vine.<\/span>
\nTo harness the potential of the estate\u2019s soils, the teams at Cos take a complementary approach, combining mechanical methods with cover cropping to ensure each vine receives the right amount of nutriments and create an environment that fosters biodiversity.<\/span> <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”fadeInDown”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”23307″ img_size=”1080×810″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Mechanical methods are implemented as early as October with buttage, or \u201cearthing up,\u201d when the base of each vine is covered with soil to protect it during the winter months.<\/span><\/p>\n

In March, the vines are freed of these mounds of soil in a process known as d\u00e9cavaillonnage. From March to September, through the entire growth cycle of the vine, the soils at Cos are lightly ploughed and cultivated to eliminate weeds, limit the vigor of the vine, and aerate the earth to make it more permeable to water and more hospitable to various forms of life.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is a delicate balancing act: the soil must be able to breathe in order to thrive, so these mechanical methods must be reduced to a minimum to avoid compacting the earth. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”23301″ img_size=”860×700″ alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1648718925151{padding-top: 20px !important;}”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]This is where the second method, cover cropping, comes in. Cover crops provide nutriments, structure, and moisture, helping to regulate the vigor of the vine at every stage of development by providing necessary competition for nutriments and water.
\nTo establish the right equilibrium, cover cropping strategy at Cos is adapted to the specific characteristics of each plot.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cover crops of grasses such as festuca and ray grass, with their deep roots that structure and stabilize soils, are maintained in a permanent fashion on plots that are particularly rich or humid.
\nLeguminous crops or grasses are planted on other plots in autumn to provide precious reserves of nitrogen, with excess nitrogen being metabolized by barley that is planted in the spring, the overall objective being to stimulate the vine so that it may realize its full potential.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well-managed crop covers also favor richer, aerated soils with better structure that contribute to the estate\u2019s biodiversity. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Grapevines are the center of attention of any vineyard. But the earth in which they grow requires just as much attention, for soils are crucial to the development of the vine. In this issue of Cos Chronicle, we invite you to explore certain aspects of soil management at Cos d\u2019Estournel and discover some of these methods in situ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1749,"featured_media":23317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-journal-de-bord","category-article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t