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Tens of millions of years ago, the same tectonic collision that formed the Pyrenees created the Dentelles de Montmirail in the western foothills of Mont Ventoux in southeast France, powerful geological forces thrusting a portion of the Earth’s crust upwards until layers of Jurassic limestone were near-vertical.
Today, sat in a dimple on the northern side of the range, is Chêne Bleu, a winery housed in a ninth-century priory.
Its 30ha of vineyards are cocooned by forest, and it falls within the boundaries of a UNESCO biosphere reserve. The air vibrates with the calls of peregrine falcons and golden eagles, the bark of foxes, the grunt of wild boar and the flutter of some 1,400 butterfly and moth species.
Nicole and Xavier Rolet bought the estate in 1993, moving from careers in finance and international affairs, and spent 12 years renovating the ancient priory and restructuring the vineyard.
The site’s isolation, with no nearby vines under routine chemical spraying, meant they could farm organically from the beginning: ‘Every aspect of the vineyard has been studied to figure out how we could work within the context of nature,’ says Nicole, ‘without using chemicals.’
The couple’s focus on preserving biodiversity and protecting the land for future generations has only intensified since. Both are senior fellows at Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative, where Nicole researched regenerative viticulture, and Xavier regenerative agriculture more widely.
The research they encountered fortified their resolve to avoid chemical inputs in the vineyard: ‘I get very focused on my little piece of land as a sort of wine lab, and [the Harvard research] opened my world to understanding more broadly why this stuff matters so much, why it’s so urgent, and why regenerative organic farming is such a great solution for our sick planet,’ says Nicole.
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‘It’s the large-scale, systematic use of synthetic chemicals in agriculture that should have us extremely worried,’ she continues.
In France, viticulture is among the agricultural sectors with the most intensive use of pesticides, with fungicides representing 80% of treatments, followed by insecticides (15%) and herbicides (5%).
The average treatment frequency for French vineyards is about 2.5 times that for wheat. What’s more, 98% of sprayed pesticides directly or indirectly harm non-target organisms.
‘You endanger the long term viability and productivity of your land by letting these chemicals build up,’ says Nicole.
This is something winemakers and landowners can directly understand (and should be worrying about) – but for those of us that don’t own vineyards, who aren’t guardians of our own patch of land, the connection is looser.
So how do we as consumers begin to bridge that gap? What if we used our buying power as a form of stewardship?
When we buy a bottle of what Nicole calls ‘green wine’ – her catch-all term for wine farmed without the systematic use of chemical inputs – we’re supporting the work of the winemaker who chooses not to poison their soil and the surrounding ecosystem, who has planted cover crops, created wildlife corridors and protected soil microbes, root systems and mycorrhizal networks.
Every bottle of organic, biodynamic, regeneratively farmed or bee-friendly wine we buy is a vote for protecting the land.
The good news is that across every style, grape and region, there are wines that fall under this umbrella – we don’t have to compromise on choice.
Is Chilean Pinot Noir your go-to red? Emiliana Vineyards is regenerative organic-certified. Domaine Bousquet is, too, if Argentinian Malbec is more your thing. Bedrock Wine Co makes stunning Californian Zinfandel from vines whose soils aren’t degraded and denuded, but thriving and full of life.
What happens to land now and in the future depends on choices made by those who tend it and those who buy into their agricultural system.
In my glass this month
The Grenache-dominant Chêne Bleu, Le Rosé 2023 (93pts, £25.50 Vinvm), from vines between 530m and 550m, opens with floral aromas of beeswax and fleshy stone fruit.
Offering huge waves of freshness and flavour, it’s plump but so succulent, with chalky tannins that bring tension and structure. It finishes with a really nice, sweet grapefruit flourish. Simply delicious.
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