Pierre Olivier Clouet
44°55'04"N,0°10'46"W
Château Cheval Blanc, Saint-Émilion, Gironde
As he was feeling the effects of climate change and the collapse of biodiversity more keenly in the vineyards, Pierre Olivier Clouet, Cheval Blanc’s technical director and an agroscience engineer and oenologist, began around 2005 to build a farming model in which wine-growing is an integral part of a wider whole. A real ecosystem that makes room for mixed farming and boosts biodiversity. Animal farming, market gardening, orchards, flower gardens and beekeeping are now integrated into the vineyards.
The Cheval Blanc team has embarked on a vast programme of tree and hedge planting at the very heart of the plots of land. Their branches, foliage and trunks represent a host of opportunities for welcoming, sheltering and providing corridors for both insects and birds. Covered, untilled soil offers board and lodging for underground life (yeast, bacteria, fungi, earthworms, etc.) that now ensures soil fertility. Plant residues, along with some of the unharvested fruit, make up the pantry of many aerial and underground species.
Specially arranged pools recover rainwater for watering, as well as initiating and developing a new ecosystem. The areas devoted to vegetable gardens, orchards and flower gardens are also set to increase in number. Two greenhouses for market gardening have been built to spread out the crops over time.
This work – whose primary aim is to preserve and even improve the wine produced on the estate – is carried out in tandem with different specialists, who are presented here, in dialogue with Pierre Olivier Clouet.
Agroecological design, a case study in Cheval Blanc
Visits every Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm from 19 September to 19 December 2021
Château Cheval Blanc is exceptionally opening its doors to all visitors to the exhibition, offering them the opportunity to discover the agroecological practices put in place on the estate along an educational trail.
Free admission on presentation of the entrance ticket to the Farmer designers: agriculture on the move exhibition.
Discover the programme of all the visits of the farms and estates associated with the exhibition
For more information:
Château Cheval Blanc
