The winegrower must intervene regularly in the vineyard at specific times by adapting to the cycle of the vine. Our main objective, in this autumn period, is to encourage grassing between the rows.
Indeed, grassing allows to improve soil structure and microbial life. There are two types of grassing: the natural grassing “controlled” and the grassing “chosen”.
In the case of a natural grassing, it is enough to let the grass grow quietly between the rows and to control it with the help of tools of work of the ground to limit its propagation under the vine stocks. It will then be necessary to plow or scratch the soil.
As for the grassing chosen, it allows us to select the type of grass sown in our vine rows according to their properties. Cantenac Brown has chosen a mixture of clover varieties (incarnate, Alexandria, white, etc.) for its dense and low-angled aspect that will allow us to structure part of our soil while creating a new ecosystem for microbial life.
We are currently sowing this selection of clover. The seeds are then rolled and buried in the ground to germinate and hatch in the spring.
The tractors that you can currently see in our vineyard are therefore taking good care of this “grass”, which is so important both for biodiversity and for our vines.