One of the newest trends in French wine-making is a big step backwards, replacing tractors with horses to haul plows and tillers in sensitive vineyards.
The revival has become a big trend, especially among organic growers, quite recently, but the revival dates to the mid-1980s, when Dominique Leandre-Chevalier, owner of Chateau Le Queyroux in the Medoc region returned to using horses. He was “really a pioneer” in the revival, according to Gilles De Revel, who heads the Vine and Wine Science program at the University of Bordeaux.
The benefit of using the horses, aside from wonderful publicity shots, is that the horses are much lighter than tractors, and don’t compact the soil around the vines in the same way. Less compacted soil is good for the grapes. Also, it has been possible to put more plants in a field because the soil is looser and not as much room needs to be left open for tractors.
For much more on this from TheLocal.fr, click HERE
