Burgundy wine estates go biodynamic

30 April, 2009

The French Burgundy Wine Board (BIVB) and the technical wine-growing association of Burgundy (ATVB) have joined forces to encourage 50 Burgundy wine estates to embrace biodiversity.

The Burgundy Wine Board (BIVB) wants to collect and preserve 100 to 200 grape lines.

The Regional Centre for Innovation and “Agri-environment” Technology Transfer (CRITT) have launched a genetic characterisation project to evaluate the overall biodiversity in the region, manage collection of seedlings and facilitate the selection of seedlings available to wine-growers. In the future, growers will be able to use seedlings to find specimens which are best suited to the new climatic conditions without giving up the unique characteristics of Burgundy grapes.
 
The ten-year plan includes:

years one to four: examining and selecting different Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Aligoté and Gamay vine seedlings to be cloned.

years five to six: pre-multiplication on the plots and in greenhouses - this is when the seedlings will be cloned and propagated.

years seven to nine: seedlings will go through multiplication on the plots - this is process of planting the baby vines outdoors in the nursery vineyards.

years ten and onwards: grafting phase in the nursery will take place alongside the on-going storage of vines. 2,000 to 3,000 different clones will be conserved, in greenhouses and on the plots. It will be a real library of the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay clones that exist in Burgundy.

 





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