Quality
and Environment in the Domaine de la Mordorée
For
us, it is virtually impossible to disassociate these two aspects,
the very key of our enterprise. All our efforts are indeed based on
a simple theory : there is no true quality if there is no respect
for the environment.
Quality
is not only question of taste ! It integrates aspects of health
on the short and long term ; a quality wine is good on your taste
buds and good for your health by its immediate effects, but only provided
it is born from a process that generates no pollution. We have always
been pioneers in this field and pledge for total openness and transparency.
Anyone can verify how we produce are wines. Today, as consumers, it
is legitimate to know how a product is produced, not only by whom.
At
the Domaine de la Mordorée, you can be assured our wines
are perfectly healthy. One of our greatest prides is to have re-created
durable ecosystems in our vineyards: they have resisted remarkably
well to the extraordinary floods of September 2002 (floods that involved
600 mm of rain in two days) or the terrible drought in summer 2003.
If
we have succeeded in making such brilliant wines in 2002 and 2003,
it is the result of considerable work and research for a renewed natural
equilibrium in our different lands, developing vines and grapes with
natural defences against insects, fungus, bacteria or extreme climate
constraints. We ourselves were surprised by the positive reactions
of our vineyard : we are more determined than ever to continue
along this line of conduct.
One
of the fundamental elements of this ecosystem equilibrium is the mychorization
level at the roots. Indeed, endomychorizes are tiny mushrooms that
live in symbiosis with the vines, colonizing its roots.
The advantages of a good mychorization level at the roots are enormous,
when the amounts are sufficient :
•
The vine is able to extract all the necessary minerals from the
soil on its own, without any need for extra fertilizers,
•
Resistance to drought is multiplied as the roots colonize the microstructures
in the ground,
•
An increased hormone regulation of the plant brings grape maturation
to an optimal level,
•
Immune defenses are reinforced, enhancing resistance to the main
parasites without any intervention on our part,
•
The ground is decompacted in depth: a better airing of the soil
means better root grip,
•
Stimulation of soil microbic life.
On
the whole, Endomychorization generates a positive cycle within the
soil: a benefit for the plant both on the short and long term. This
is a typical example of a major durable agricultural concept (a concept
that has been used abusively of late), based on terrain reality, far
from industrial agriculture. On the long-term, our land heritage is
preserved while on the short term, the wines are fuller, more complex
and age better. However, the mychorize can only live in a healthy
soil, free of any pesticide or fertilizer : they are very vulnerable
to any outside aggression.
Here is an example which clearly proves that quality and environment
are indissociable.
