With practically every scrap of land in the appellation turned over to the vine, biodiversity has been an inevitable casualty of Champagne’s global success. Can new initiatives such as Ruinart’s vitiforestry project in Taissy help redress the balance? Richard Woodard reports. In the midst of Ruinart’s premier cru vineyard at Taissy sits a trio of giant, spiky art installations that resemble the nests of some huge prehistoric bird. Habitats is the work of Bavarian artist Nils-Udo; it’s also a very LVMH way of doing sustainability. Tracing a line underneath Habitats – which are constructed from locally-sourced waste oak trunks, pine branches and vine prunings – is something that, in 2023, is an even rarer sight in the middle of a Champagne vineyard: a newly-planted hedgerow, stretching for 400 metres or so and neatly splitting the Meunier vines on either side. Young and awkward-looking now, in time the cherry, hawthorn, hornbeam and rowan planted here will be transformed into a proper field hedge, and a haven for wildlife. “There is a major problem in all Champagne right now,” says Victor Gandon, who is in charge of Ruinart’s vitiforestry project at Taissy. “There is a lack of biodiversity in the vineyard. This is what happens when you grow only a single variety of plant, and the mechanical tools you use – tractors, etc – lead to a decrease in the biodiversity. “We are facing really important problems of dying soils in Champagne. ‘Dying’ is a big word, but the soils are
This Article was originally published on The Drink Business - Fine Wine
