The UGCB, Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, is an exclusive association for the classified châteaux of Bordeaux (the 1855 classification in Médoc and Sauternes and the classifications in Graves and Saint Emilion), as well as a few well-chosen non-classified châteaux. The association has 131 member châteaux. They are now looking forward to a future characterised by sustainability.
UGCB recently launched Ethiq’Union, a set of regulations to reduce spraying, eliminate the herbicides (most châteaux have apparently already stopped), increase cover crops and plant trees and hedges, and reduce the carbon footprint through various measures. A sustainability label will become mandatory for members. 40 of the chateaux members are already organically certified or under conversion.
Others prefer the French sustainability label Haute Valeur Environnementale (HVE), but Ronan Laborde, president of UGCB and owner of Château Clinet in Pomerol, thinks you must go further. He says it can be challenging to be organic in a humid climate like Bordeaux, but he coins a new concept, “bio raisonné”, which he believes they practice at Clinet.
That is a good way of working, of course although “bio raisonné” is an unfortunate choice of words. Just as that you should not say “almost organic”, as some producers nevertheless do. Either you are organic or you are not.
Read more: lesechos
Travel: Come on a wine tour to Bordeaux with BKWine.
Read: more on organics and sustainability in BKWine’s book Organic, Biodynamic and Natural winemaking.
