2016/2017 2016/2017 vintage SERVING THE LIVING WORLD édito Hardly has the COP 21 come to an end than the COP 22 arrives hard on its heels... whilst the COP 23 waits in the wings. The years Nature pass and international meetings follow one another, whilst our environment continues to deteriorate. “The house is burning, and we look elsewhere,” said the French President Jacques Chirac at as the Johannesburg Summit. That was in 2002... And although at State level things may move very slowly, at least companies have the possibility of acting rapidly. In 10 years, thanks to the investment made by each, we have put our les Vignerons de Buzet firmly on the road to “sustainability”. Our efforts to neutralise our environmental footprint, as far as is possible, have been rewarded both in terms of media coverage, model technical progress and sales. This magazine is an opportunity for you to discover the latest progress we have made in the field. But this is just one step. We need to continue to innovate and invent the world of tomorrow. How? By moving ever closer to the natural world. Closely observing nature helps drive forward the technologies of tomorrow. It offers us the oldest laboratory for innovation, all we need to do is look. For 400 million years, plants have been inventing, evolving and adopting new strategies. This is the route we need to follow. The field of possibilities open to a company like ours is vast and we need to make the most of them. For economic reasons, of course, but above all for ethical reasons. Our children are watching us. Let’s show them that we are a company in harmony with the natural world. Vincent Leyre Serge Lhérisson Pierre Philippe Chairman of the Supervisory Board President of management committee Managing Director 2016/2017 vintage contents 06. WATER AND PLANTS 21. BEYOND THE COP 21 37. LES VIGNERONS DE BUZET POLLINATION AND HARVEST WaterandWine, Our wines: facing up to thebestofenemies the climate challenge Listening to our customers A garden for clean water! innovationatwork Reachingout The benefits of cover Energy and waste: On the Web crops thinking differently Wherevaluesareforsharing “Makingwinethatisgood Commonsenseinour andclean…” bottles 42. GOVERNANCE Towards new managerial 14. LIFE IN THE VINES 27. WINE AT ITS BEST practices Bee Friendly® Rosé: A color apart LesvigneronsdeBuzet A growing living treasure Sulphurous sulfites... ecosystem Winemakers,gardening Châteauxanddomaines, thelandscape oneobjective 45. LES Vignerons DE Buzet: thesubtlemusicoflife THE PROOF OF OUR COMMITMENT 33. MEN AND WOMEN OF LES VIGNERONS DE BUZET 46. LES Vignerons DE Buzet: OUR DATES Young winegrowers, the next generation 47. LES Vignerons DE Buzet: OUR FIGURES Feelinggoodatwork takingourhuman potentialtoheart Our 4th sustainable development report is, like the previous one, entitled “Le Mag”. This choice reflects our desire to ensure that our commitments, our progress and our questions are accessible to as wide a public as possible. Les Vignerons de Buzet Avenue des côtes de Buzet - BP 17 47160 BUZET-SUR-BAÏSE Tel.: +(33) 553 84 74 30 Email: [email protected] www.vignerons-buzet.fr Editor-in-chief and publication manager: Pierre Philippe Editorial team: Mariane Riboulet, Sandrine Roudaut, Yannick Roudaut, David Bidegaray, Anne-Claire Paqueraud Graphic design: Una Via Photo credits: Julien Domec, Fonroche, Les Vignerons de Buzet, Shutterstock Illustrations: Pierre Chapelle Printing: IGS Imprimerie Graphic Sud Printed on 100% recycled paper, non-chlorine bleached and European Ecolabel certified. 06. WATER AND PLANTS 07. WATER AND PLANTS WATER AND WINE, THE BEST OF ENEMIES WATER AND WINE. FRATERNAL ENEMIES IF EVER THERE WERE. AND YET, NO WATER, NO WINE! WATER FOR THE VINE, OF COURSE. BUT ALSO FOR THE WINEMAKING PROCESS... FROM THE VINE TO THE BOTTLE, WATER IS ESSENTIAL FOR WINE. Although a good wine is the result of a complex alchemy, water plays a major role throughout. Water is not a 1.83 simple liquid. Water is not just H2O, LITRES OF WATER the sum of the atoms of hydrogen =1litreofwine and oxygen (H2O). Water is life and (includingpackaging) has been from time immemorial. (2015,basedonthevinifiedvolume) The water we drink was consumed by dinosaurs long ago, before being recycled by the earth and climatic evaporation. We have only one water on our planet. Water is solid, liquid, gas... water is even said to have a “memory”. Energised, it apparently offers properties as yet unknown to Homo Sapiens. This is the principle behind biodynamic wine-growing. A series of carefully formulated preparations based on energised water are all that is needed to treat and feed the vine… One thing is certain, without water, no wine, no pleasure. And this is reason enough to take great care of it! FOCUS ON FOCUS Les Vignerons de Buzet and water Water is used to clean everything from tanks to tools. This cleaning is essential to guarantee to our customers wines that are produced according to strict hygiene standards. To sterilise our tools on the production lines, we need to heat water. After being used for sterilisation the water is still hot, and this heat is used to warm the cold water arriving from the mains supply. As a result it requires less energy to reach the temperature needed for use. A heat exchange system that therefore saves energy! WATER AND PLANTS 08. A GARDEN FOR CLEAN WATER! IN 2017 INTO OUR COOPERATIVE WILL HAVE ITS OWN “WATER GARDEN”. THE NATURAL ACTION OF THE PLANTS IN THIS “WETLAND” WILL EFFECTIVELY CLEAN OUR WASTEWATER. A PROJECT THAT IS ALSO CHEAPER THAN CONVENTIONAL TREATMENT METHODS. IT WILL ENRICH BIODIVERSITY AND, BEING OPEN TO OUR VISITORS, WILL CREATE AN ATTRACTIVE SPACE FOR AN ENJOYABLE AND INSTRUCTIVE STROLL. ONE MORE STEP TOWARDS AUTONOMY. Design: Océane Chmakoff, BlueSET. Artist’s impression. 09. WATER AND PLANTS HOW THE FiniSHing PLanteDFLOATING ISLet SUCCeSSiOnOFDiFFeRentPLantSPeCieS Functionalecologicalmicrocosm non-invasivelocalspecies POND (purification,refugeforfish, Plantingdensity:8plants/m² workS? nestingareaforbirds) aeRATIOn BORDeRPLanteDWitH WOODvieWingPLATFORM FOUNTAIN HeLOPHYtiC* VEGETATIOn StOneWaLL viewpointoverthepond Prevents *Semi-aquaticorbogplants, Habitatforreptiles andtowards stagnation typicalofmarshland, andamphibians thevinesbelow aeratesthewater withrootsthatareadaptedto beingpermanentlyunderwater gentLeSLOPe thermoclinesformation Habitatsdiversification This innovative system, that will use plants to treat our wastewater, is designed to be both effective and aesthetic. Using non-invasive native plant species, it will be open to visitors in 2017. FOCUS ON FOCUS What is a wetland? In wetland areas water is the determining factor, essential not only to enable such areas to function correctly but also for their animal and plant life. The vegetation is both specific and variable according to the levels of submergence, salinity and nutrients… In metropolitan France wetlands support about 25% of biodiversity, but are among the natural habitats that have lost the greatest surface area. Globally, according to the biodiversity observatory, these wetlands are continuing to deteriorate. WATER AND PLANTS 10. THE BENEFITS OF covER cropS NO, THESE VINES HAVE NOT BEEN ABANDONED! WE HAVE SIMPLY ALLOWED DIFFERENT PLANT SPECIES, NATURAL OR SEEDED, TO DEVELOP BETWEEN THE ROWS. Cover crops is the term used to describe all the plants that cover the soil, whether permanently or temporarily. Lying flat, they form a natural protective mat. They offer a wide range of benefits (improving soil structure, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, trapping nitrates, encouraging biodiversity, etc.). Today the majority of our winegrowers use this process. Common practices and mentalities needed to change: for a long time a well-maintained 100% Cover crops: organicfertilizers throughouttheentire purifying water vineyardsince2007 Cover crops also acts to trap nitrogen and the nitrates that it produces. By creating a virtually permanent soil cover, they substantially reduce the risk of nitrates being leached out of the 40% soil by rainfall. Particularly water-soluble, percentageofthe nitrates are today considered the major cause vineyardareawithcover of pollution to the world’s large underground cropsin2016(800ha) water reserves. FOCUS ON FOCUS 11. WATER AND PLANTS vineyard was one with bare soil Different between the rows! Other plants were species for viewed as competition, consuming different actions the nutrients needed by the vines for All cover crops species contribute their development. to biodiversity, act as carbon traps and have a positive effect on water A mechanism to reduce purity. However, each is more or greenhouse gas emissions less effective for certain actions. The different species can be mixed, Over the last ten years or so, providing an infinite wealth numerous studies have demonstrated of natural interactions between the benefits for the environment and them and the vine. the carbon footprint of using (natural) organic fertilizers. We have been using them since 2007. And this positive effect is further enhanced by Brassicas the practice of using cover crops, that functions as a carbon trap, Example: Yellow mustard capturing and transforming the greenhouse gases present in the Decompaction of surface soil thanks to their root system. atmosphere (including CO2). In addition to improving soil structure, the roots of brassicas soak up water like sponges, acting as water reservoirs. THE EFFECT OF coveR ReDUCing Leguminous plant SeS gReenHOUSE GA Example: Broad bean