Paris (AFP)
Moët Hennessy will stop "the end of 2020" the use of herbicides in all its Champagne vineyards, and in 2021 in those of the Cognac region, announced its CEO Philippe Schaus at the Wine Paris-Vinexpo fair.
"At the end of 2020 in Champagne, we will completely stop the herbicides, and we will build a new research and development center in Champagne worth 20 million euros," said Mr. Schaus in an interview with the AFP.
"For cognac, we will stop a year later," said the manager, who succeeded Christophe Navarre in 2017 at the head of the wines and spirits subsidiary of the luxury group LVMH.
"We are replacing herbicides with mechanical weeding thanks in particular to electric tractors and robots," he said.
The group has invested in a dozen electric straddle tractors developed by the Champagne constructor Kremer, at a cost of 200,000 euros per unit.
From October to March, in order not to pack the soggy soils, part of the vineyards will be weeded in eco-pasture by sheep, said Stanislas Milcent, director of research and development in the environment sector.
"This is a milestone for the group's twenty or so houses, most of which were born in the 18th and 19th century and which carry sustainable development in their genes," said the CEO. Among these houses in Champagne are the brands Dom Perignon, Moët and Chandon, Mercier, Ruinart, Veuve Cliquot and Krug.
During the show, bringing together for the first time in Paris all the vineyards and terroirs of France and the major brands of wines and spirits, Moët Hennessy organized a vast forum of debates of experts around the theme "living soil", on viticultural and environmental subjects linked to global warming, water management, biodiversity conservation, or the use of inputs.
In addition to Champagne (northeast of France) and the Cognac region (southwest), Moet Hennessy operates vineyards in Provence (southeast), Spain, Argentina, Napa Valley in the United States , China, India, Australia and New Zealand.
© 2020 AFP