History

It is a long time...

The vine is a plant which comes from Minor Asia. Travelling by Egypt and transported by the Greeks and the Romans, it arrived in France by Provence and Languedoc at about the V th century before our era. The establishment of the vine was also done by the valley of the Rhine with the arrival of the Hungarian and Romanian vineyards (famous "tokay"). The vine will conquer the whole of France because it was plait on all the grounds located at less than 500 meters of altitude.
Surfaces of vineyard have known their apogee at the 19th century to decline then, on one hand because of phylloxera (disease which devastated hundreds of hectares) and on the other hand, because of a natural selection of the best vineyards.

In France, certain type of vines are very represented like "pinot noir" in Burgundy, the "cabernet-sauvignon" in Médoc, the chardonnay for the white wines. Many wines are resulting from only one type of vine ("red gamay" for the beaujolais) but it is possible to assemble several type of vines ("cabernet-sauvignon","merlot" and "cabernet-franc" for certain bordeaux).

The vine

The wine and its quality depend on several factors :
- the ground and the climate.
- the type of vine (one counts some more than 100 different types of vine).
- the culture of the vine.
- techniques of wine making.

The climate has a big impact on the production of the wine; the vine fears the frost of spring, water is necessary to the enlargement of the bunches but it is fatal if it is too present when the grape is ripe. The sun also plays its role for ripening and the wine growers will prefer a sunning of south or of east.
The vine was plait on various types of ground; it is simply necessary that water does not stagnate. Indeed, one as well finds vineyards on limestone grounds  as in Burgundy as on the grounds of alluviums of Alsace.

The culture of the vine and its maintenance represent a regular work throughout the year. It is in winter that one cuts the vine according to different techniques and different areas. The vegetation of the vine starts in March-April with "debourrement"; at this time, the vine is very fragile and fears the frost. During the growth of the plant, several operations can be made as "epamprage" which consists in limiting the number of branches on the plant. Stripping is also used to allow a better sunning of the bunches. Throughout the year, it is also necessary to protect the vine against the various diseases which can touch them.
In September, the grape harvest starts, the date is being given according to the maturity of the grains. In certain areas, one delays to the maximum the grape harvest until over-ripening and obtaining of a noble rot on the grains; at this stage the grains concentrate sugar (one thus obtains wines like Sauternes). When the sheets fell, one plows the ground (it is the "butage") to protect the vine against the frost.

Techniques of wine making

Each type of wine - red, white and rosé - has its own techniques of wine making :

Red wines :

The first stage is called "picking off" or "éraflage" and consists in separating the grapes from the remainder of the bunch. Then, "pressing" makes it possible to crush the grapes and to extract the juice from them. The juice is then stored in tanks for "alcoholic fermentation" where sugar is transformed into ethanol and carbon dioxide under the effects of yeast; during this fermentation, the wine releases some heat. At the time of this operation, the marc is formed with the skin and the pips of the grapes; the maceration influences the quality and the conservation of the wine.
After maceration, the wine is "past"; "malolactic fermentation" starts then and consists in transforming the malic acid into lactic acid which influences the bouquet of the wine. After this stage, the wine is clarified by various methods (filtration, centrifugation or joining) and is then preserved out of barrels during one or two years before it is bottled after a new filtration.

White wines :

The white wines are vinified only starting from the only grape juice, without skin nor pips i.e. without maceration. On can thus obtain white wines with black grapes with white juice ( the champagne for instance). Fermentation is carried out at a temperature not exceeding the 20° C. For the "moëlleux" white wines, fermentation is reduced an all the sugar is preserved (wines of Sauternes for example).

Other wines :

The rosé wines result from red grapes for which a shorter maceration is done.
The champagne and sparkling wines are obtained by a setting out of bottle at the first fermentation, which enables the carbon dioxide to slowly dissolve in the wine.

History of organic agriculture

The birth of organic agriculture occurs in Germany in the years 1920. It is only after the second world war while the intensive agriculture beats its full, that the organic agriculture was known in France. In 1962, the AFAB (French Association for Organic Agriculture) is created. At the beginning of the 1980's, the first decrees and laws are taken in France for the creation of conditions of contract. In 1991, the European Community recognise officially the organic agriculture (EC n° 2092).
Gradually, the bio makes its path and the recognition of the bio is done thanks to the creation of very strict conditions which regulate the production from the work of the ground to the winemaking.

For the wine, there is no conditions of contract; however, the wine growers who decide to use organic agriculture to produce their wine respect the working techniques of the ground (conditions of contract of the organic agriculture) and the techniques of wine making approach the traditional methods as much as possible (for more information, visit the part Techniques). However, associations for organic agriculture developed condition of contract for the wine under their own control (the charter of the FNAB - National Union of the Organic Agriculture- for example); one can so hope that by a little while, the European Community bends over this gap and that an European conditions of contract is born very soon.

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