News from the Vineyard; Further exploration in Côte-Rôtie

A few specific reflections on farming in some of the most famed Syrah vineyards in the world…

by Raj Vaidya

May 2nd, 2022

Last week I made mention of how the steep, often terraced terrain of Côte-Rôtie has been a deterrent historically to farming the vines organically. The difficulty in turning and ploughing soil and the inability in most places to work with a tractor have caused the appellation to be quite inundated with herbicide residues over the past 6 decades.

But this is changing slowly, with vignerons like Jean-Michel Stephan and Guillaume Clusel (who follows in the tradition of his parents, Gilbert and Brigitte) leading the way. You saw a short video last week of Pierre Rostaing explaning how he combats erosion and adds compost by breaking up the plant matter from pruning and leaving it on the top soil through the winter. In Clusel’s case, the use of cover crops is more a part of their program, as evidenced in the pictures below.

The Viallière vineyard is a great illustration of how the cover crops have aided against erosion as noted by the steepness in the video below.

There is certainly a long way to go, and the total surface of vineyards which are certified organic within the appellation remains extremely small. Most of the vineyards remain brown and compacted all summer long.

Be sure to check in next week when I introduce a tiny new producer in Sessyuel, just north of Côte-Rôtie who has planted an organic vineyard for the first time in a century, in a place where wine has been made since the Roman era…