All things are permitted if you want to be eco-friendly, right? A producer in Bourgueil in the Loire Valley allows 220 hens to stroll around in the vineyard. This way he hopes to avoid using both herbicides and insecticides. But when the grapes begin to ripen, they will have to leave. The risk is that hens consider grapes as a gastronomic delicacy.
The winegrower in question, Philippe Boucard, has for years belonged to the organization for sustainable viticulture, Terra Vitis. He also installed bird houses in the vineyard to attract great tits and bats that like to feast on insects.
We have seen geese in the vineyard at Viña Emiliana in Chile. And we know there are wineries that use lambs in the vineyard to avoid herbicides in the spring. More: www.lavigne-mag.fr
