If you take a walk through the vineyards during the months of February and March, you may notice large metal containers at the end of the rows, from which thick smoke rises. These are vine shoots—the freshly pruned vine canes—that are traditionally burned.
Indeed, just after pruning, winegrowers and seasonal workers are tasked with removing the shoots caught in the wires that support the vines. But as Pierre, our winegrower, likes to say, “nothing is lost, everything is transformed.”
That is why Domaine de Cardon has chosen to shred and spread the freshly cut vine shoots directly across the estate. The goal is to give back to the soil what we have taken from it and to provide our vines with a natural fertilizer.
This process is in fact a costly investment, but the vines repay us generously by producing high-quality grapes year after year. By avoiding the release of CO₂ into the atmosphere and naturally nourishing our soils, we continue to uphold our environmental commitments while reinforcing the credibility of our certifications.
