Works
A year of works
Pruning
(winter)
We prune throughout the winter and finish at the end of March.
Tying
(end of winter)
The vines are pruned using the "Guyot" method where the branches have to be bent and then tied onto their supports, canes or wire. Traditionally, wicker is used for the tying.
Control of grass
(spring and summer)
We maintain the ground by ploughing. This is done with the crawler tractor, with the winch (the plough is pulled by a cable) and often with a pickaxe in Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu. The Coteaux du Lyonnais vineyards are worked with a common tractor.
Retaining walls
(autumn and spring)
We often have to build and maintain retaining walls to hold in the earth.
Tying and trimming
(spring and summer)
The vines grow a great deal in June, so they have to be tied in. They are attached to the trellising and then trimmed with clippers.
Spraying
(spring and summer)
We treat and spray the vines as little as possible, following the climatology of the year, only using sulphur, the Bordeaux mixture and herbal teas.
Harvest
(september and october)
Harvest is done manually, first with small baskets and then in 20 kg cases.
WORK ON THE VINES IN CÔTE-RÔTIE AND CONDRIEU
Great wines require excellent quality grapes, both perfectly ripe and healthy. We tend and cultivate our vines in the most natural way possible. Most of the work is carried out manually as large-scale machinery can not be used on the very steep slopes in the Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu areas. Our planting density is more than eight thousand vine stocks per hectare. Intensive manual labour is needed in such vineyards. In the winter, the land is left untouched and grass grows naturally. After pruning, comes the time for staking, tying up and ploughing. All these tasks in the vineyards are complicated due to the steep slopes and uneven ground. We have to use a cable-drawn plough pulled by a winch on the steepest slopes. Instead of using chemical fertilisers, we use manually-spread composted manure.
During the spring through to the summer, the vines need to be disbudded, attached and clipped. The growth of the grass has to be kept under control by scraping and turning the soil over. Both a favourable climate and environmentally-friendly farming practices mean that we can limit the use of chemical treatments. So as to get the very best out of our land, we only replant vine stocks which come from our own selections of our old Sérine grapes (a traditional Syrah grape variety from Ampuis) which we graft at the estate. These Sérines are less productive and allow the grapes to develop more complex aromas than if a more modern grape was selected.
For more information on AOC Côte-Rôtie, please visit : www.cote-rotie.com
For more information on AOC Condrieu, please visit : www.vin-condrieu.fr
WORK ON THE VINE IN THE COTEAUX DU LYONNAIS
As well as his work on the family estate, Guillaume Clusel also started to work in June 2009 on a plot of vineyard in “Millery” (40 ares) and on a hectare of almost abandoned vines in “Grigny”. It was a major challenge, a lot of hard work was to be needed and there was only a very small production that year. The villages where the new plots are situated are 20 km at most from the family estate in the Côte-Rôtie area. Although the distance is not far, everything is different: the terrain is flatter, the grape variety is Gamay rather than Syrah and the wines are to be drunk young...
From the start, Guillaume decided to use organic farming methods on the plots of vineyards in the Coteaux du Lyonnais. The original vines found on the “Grigny” plot were pulled out as they were in a bad state and they were replaced with the Chardonnay grape variety to produce Coteaux du Lyonnais white wines. More vines have been planted since the start.
The work done is similar to that of the work needed to produce Côte-Rôtie wines, however with the land being less steep it is possible to use machinery. The plantations being less dense and the use of wire trellises means that less manual work is necessary.
During the spring through to the summer, the vines need to be disbudded, attached and clipped. The growth of the grass has to be kept under control by scraping and turning the soil over. Both a favourable climate and environmentally-friendly farming practices mean that we can limit the use of chemical treatments.
So as to get the very best out of our land, we only replant vine stocks which come from our own selections of our best vines, these are grafted on our estate.
For more information on AOC Coteaux du Lyonnais, please visit : www.coteaux-du-lyonnais.com
