All of our viticultural practices are oriented towards the production of a healthy and qualitative harvest, combined with an exceptional effort to preserve the environment.

The careful training of the vines
 
The vines, trained in Royat cordon pruning, are planted at 4000 feet / hectare. All the trellising have been replaced or heightened recently in order to optimize the exposed leaf surface, and thus reach a peak in photosynthetic activity, and to limit the leaves tangles, which favour the development of the vine fungi (Mildew, Oïdium and Grey Rot).
 
The mindful tending of the vineyard: careful pruning, systematic disbudding, tying-up, trimming… greatly improves the photosynthetic activity and a perfect sanity state.

The conversion to organic agriculture
 
Our careful and thorough cultural practices, associated with the fine weather conditions, have allowed us to implement the conversion of our vineyard to organic agriculture. From spring 2008 and on, all non organic treatments are banned from Château Fontvert. Only sulphur (for the Oïdium) and copper (for the Mildew) will be used for the treatment of the vines. Insecticides will no longer be used.

The regular soil ploughing
 
A regular soil ploughing is important for two main reasons:
 it limits the development of the weeds, and the organic agricultural specifications forbid the use of herbicides
 it enables the aeration of the soil, that favours the microbiological life and limits the evaporation, which is quite crucial in times of draught, that tend to become more and more frequent over the years.
 
Various types of tools are used for ploughing the soil between the rows and under the rows.

The organic fertilization

Poor soils, such as those found in our vineyard, have a reputation of being ideal for a qualitative production. Nevertheless, it is necessary to avoid dramaticaly low levels of organic matter in the soil, which could lead to excessive weakening of the vines.
 
Organic matter brings many nutriments to the vines and retains the water. This is why an improvement with organic manure (a blend of sheep rejection, straw, vegetal compost…) is regularly done, every 3 to 4 years. After the pruning, the vine shoots are ground into the soil, returning back some amount of the organic matter.