This very steep Chignin vineyard, below the mountain known as La Savoyarde, belongs to Domaine Berthollier and is farmed organically with close-planted Bergeron vines trained sur échalas.

GROWING THE GRAPES

Mountain viticulture can be harrowing – excuse the pun – or indeed heroic, when the vineyards cling to such steep rocky hillsides. A visitor can only stare down the vine rows with bemusement, wondering how vineyard workers manage to stay upright while pruning, de-budding or picking.

You might expect to see terraces to make the work easier, but in the French Alpine vineyards there are very few, though historically there were more, especially on the highest and steepest parts of the slopes – some abandoned vineyard terraces can be still seen hidden in the forests. Today, building terraces is simply too much work and cost, for a massive loss of vine space – most that do exist are very wide and built to avoid working on a steep slope.

It is obvious that little can be mechanized in the steepest vineyards and this is one reason why so many were abandoned in the first half of the 20th century. The introduction of mechanization and chemical herbicides, insecticides and fungicides eased the work considerably from the 1950s and arguably saved the vineyards, but the biggest challenge today is how to make these hard-to-work vineyards more environmentally friendly and cost-effective.

From the 1970s, vineyards were increasingly planted on flatter lands lower down the hillsides to make them more easily mechanized, to ensure bigger crops and to be able to meet a price, albeit with more frost risk. Yet a movement starting in the late 1980s and still continuing has seen some higher and steeper vineyard slopes replanted. Those vignerons who undertook this gamble deserve credit for their vision and confidence that their work would be rewarded.

The contrast between the facility of work in the flatter vineyards and in the steeper ones is great in terms of labour and thus cost. This chapter explores this work and addresses the biggest viticultural issues in the French Alps, including the advances made in adopting organic, biodynamic or sustainable farming methods.

The vines: rootstocks, clones, mass selections and age

Given that Savoie is known for its vine nurseries, there is a surprising lack of clones of the indigenous varieties and very little officially supported vine research.Sadly, financial resources are limited and although there is an experimental vineyard at Domaine de Méjane in St-Jean-de-la-Porte, which grows a number of clones of the main Savoie varieties, little in the way of follow-up studies has been done recently. It has taken the largely volunteer-led CAAPG to further the research into rare Alpine grape varieties and to develop a collection of different plant material of the main Savoie varieties. This is vitally important to ensure healthy, disease-free and strong vines, able to produce good-quality grapes. Most Savoie vignerons buy their grafted vines from nurseries within the department, and for rare varieties this is the only option. Bugey has no vine nurseries and its vignerons buy mainly from Savoie.

Planting of mass selections rather than clones is confined, as elsewhere, to the most dedicated of producers, mainly organic; with increasing communication between the best producers, some vignerons share selected vine material. So, for example, when Dominique Lucas of Les Vignes de Paradis in the Lac Léman area wanted to plant Altesse he obtained cuttings from his friend Dominique Belluard of Ayze. In neither of these areas is there any recent tradition of planting Altesse: Belluard planted his Altesse in 2002, having obtained his plant material from a mass selection grown by Domaine Dupasquier in Jongieux.

Planting a new Persan vineyard for Philippe Grisard in the Combe de Savoie, with the backdrop of the Dent d’Arclusaz and the high Alps.

In terms of officially led viticultural studies, there are even fewer resources in Bugey, Isère and Hautes-Alpes. All three areas, though, have enthusiastic vignerons who participate in the CAAPG’s annual meetings.

Due to the highly varied soils, a wide range of rootstocks is used. Given the predominance of limestone, in some areas growers’ choice is orientated towards a rootstock that can cope with high calcium levels. Other choices may be made to help reduce the vines’ potential vigour in a humid climate – there is some resurgence in the use of old rootstocks such as Riparia Gloire, known to promote lower vigour. On the other hand, grassed-down vineyards require reasonably vigorous rootstocks to cope with the competition.

Vine age varies greatly in these regions. On the one hand, there are many young vines, partly due to revived vineyard areas and partly to increased plantings of indigenous grape varieties. On the other hand, due to the post-Second World War vineyard revival in Bugey and Savoie, which occurred mainly between the 1960s and the 1980s, there are Chardonnay and Gamay vines in the former and Jacquère and Gamay in the latter that are now reaching a very respectable age. It is to be hoped that the esca and flavescence dorée scourges do not reduce the average age too much.

Vine density, pruning and training systems

The AOC rules in Savoie and Bugey require a minimum planting density of 5,000 vines per hectare (with slight variations for certain vineyards). In practice most modern vineyards are planted at a density of around 6,000 vines per hectare, with many older vineyards planted at 8,000–10,000 vines per hectare – the latter have to be worked with an enjambeur tractor that straddles the vines or a very small, low tractor, a chenillette (small tracked vehicle), a horse or manually. The Diois and the other areas are similar.

The 19th-century viticulturist Guyot (after whom Guyot training was named) noted after visiting Savoie that every village or valley had a different form of training. Examples of the traditional high training systems that were prevalent in Savoie are the hautains of Chautagne and the crosses of Marin. Today most vineyards are trained on wires and use the Single Guyot or occasionally Double Guyot systems (sometimes used in arched form, especially for Chardonnay for Bugey Brut as it gives higher yields). For Mondeuse that is trained on wires, another permitted system, Cordon de Royat, is used by many growers; others use Eventail: both are spur-pruned systems.

Gobelet training, usually attached to a single post (called ‘sur échalas’) or very occasionally a wigwam set-up as used in the northern Rhône, is much in evidence on steep slopes and/or for older vines, especially favoured for Mondeuse. I’ve also seen it on steep Chignin Bergeron slopes, in Marestel for Altesse and in Ayze with Gringet. Sur échalas is also used on particularly steep slopes in Bugey, including in Montagnieu and some parts of Cerdon. These vines are often planted at an even higher density of around 12,000 vines per hectare. It’s always impressive to look at because it’s immediately obvious how much sheer manual and sometimes skilled labour is required to weed around the vines, trim and tie up the shoots. The attention that needs to be lavished on these vines makes the vigneron at one with each vine.

In the Diois, for Clairette de Die, training is Guyot or Cordon de Royat; a small amount of Gobelet is still seen, but technically is no longer allowed and is being phased out.

Managing the soil and the growth of vines and weeds

My home in Haute-Savoie is located at much higher altitude than the vineyards and the growing season for my south-facing garden is short. Once the snow has gone and the spring really kicks in, the speed of growth is phenomenal. The fact is, it rains in the Alps – it rains a lot at times – and it can be really sunny and warm in between. These weather conditions are perfect for everything to grow strong and fast and, given a chance, grass and weeds will take over, leaving little energy left in the soil to nurture anything else. A big part of a vigneron’s job is to manage the vigour of both the vines and those weeds, as well as the grass or any other ground-cover.

As everywhere, there is work to be done in the vineyard almost throughout the year. After the intense manual work of winter pruning, mainly from December to March, during the four months from April to July the vigneron is trying to control weed growth and vine growth. But, given the high rainfall here, everything must also be done to prevent mildew attacks: this includes aerating the soil and keeping the air circulating around the vines. Finally, of course, the aim is to aid steady ripening and to intervene to avoid the vine over-cropping. The process of de-budding and removing laterals is taken more and more seriously by good vignerons and given that this process is manual, seasonal vineyard workers (experienced regulars if possible) are required for several weeks in early summer. Later, around veraison (the grapes’ colour change), certain varieties, especially Mondeuse, require crop thinning or green harvest.

The picture shows Bruno Lupin’s steep, grassed-down Mondeuse vineyard above Frangy. The vines are trained sur échalas.

By contrast, is the stony, bare earth of these terraced, wire-trained vineyards in Chignin, built by Michel Quenard in the late 1980s to facilitate working the steep slope.

The process of buttage (banking up the soil) to protect the vine is a traditional method sometimes still used as a way to avoid weeds. In the process of débuttage (when the soil mound is demolished) the weeds can be pulled up and fertilizer added – these processes can be mechanized as part of the ploughing activities. In years gone by, vignerons had no choice but to weed laboriously by hand, using a hoe. From early in the 20th century, if the vigneron was sufficiently wealthy and the steepness of the slope permitted, a plough was attached to a horse, or oxen, eventually replaced by a tractor. On very steep slopes a treuil, a pulley system with a plough, can be used by a person on foot, a small tractor or a horse. The system has been around for decades and is increasingly seen once again.

Looking across the valley at various steep vineyard slopes it’s common to see bare soils, devoid of any green except the vines. In today’s environmentally conscious world it’s easy to presume that these must have been entirely weed-killed with herbicide. Yet in centuries gone by, before herbicides, these slopes were prized as excellent vineyard sites. Many of the steep slopes in Savoie, Bugey and beyond – such as the higher slopes of Chignin, Arbin and Cruet in the Combe de Savoie, or Marestel in Jongieux, or Montagnieu, Manicle and Cerdon in Bugey – are so stony that weeds have a hard time growing in any case. More and more vignerons are turning back to manual techniques, perhaps just going through with a hoe or strimmer once a year, or making the compromise of one herbicide treatment in early spring and then hoeing later in the year.

Back in the late 1980s, there was a realization that herbicide use made vineyards look very ‘clean’ and tidy, but – especially on steep slopes – bare earth encouraged soil erosion or even minor landslides after heavy rain. In Savoie and other Alpine regions more and more vineyards have been grassed down, either letting grass grow naturally or planting specific grasses in between each vine row, or sometimes just every other row, allowing the second row to be ploughed. It has changed the landscape completely, solved some problems and created others. Today, as one of the ways to comply with France’s objective of reducing herbicide use, Savoie AOC rules specify at least partial grassing down or ploughing for all vineyards that are able to be mechanized (i.e. not too steep). Many, especially on the steep slopes of Chignin, are not following the rules right now – vignerons claim grass won’t grow, but I was told that it may miraculously appear if they are threatened with losing their AOC.

For weed-killing, herbicide use below the row of vines remains the most commonly used system. The width of the strip that is weed-killed is important and so is the choice of herbicide, as some are more noxious than others: the worst are gradually being banned. Modern machinery and a careful user can apply herbicide efficiently and accurately, helping to limit its use. There are still a few growers who opt for an easy life, but it is now relatively rare that vineyards are 100% weed-killed.

Most growers who have decided to eliminate herbicide completely have invested in an intercep, a tractor attachment that enables weeding between each vine. Many Savoie and Bugey growers claim that there is no suitable intercep for their particular terroir or slope – something refuted by the regional vineyard inspector and advisor. However, it’s true that on certain stony soils there is a risk of damage to the vines, and if they are planted in the Gobelet system sur échalas then the only alternative to herbicide is manual weeding with a hoe or a strimmer (the latter is also potentially damaging to the vines). And on very steep slopes, extreme care must be taken. I have heard all too many sad stories of vignerons or their employees turning over their tractors on steep slopes and coming to a tragic end.

In Arbin, the Genoux family, who work biodynamically, plough the soil with a treuil, a harrow attached to a pulley to help it up the steep slope of their Mérande vineyard.

The scourge of flavescence dorée

Flavescence dorée is the most common form of bacterial-type infection that exists under the umbrella name of grapevine yellows. This lethal vine disease has now been identified in more than two-thirds of France’s vineyard areas and is a growing problem.

In flavescence dorée-infected vines, a micro-organism enters the sap, causing the leaves to turn yellow and the wood (required for the following year’s growth) to stop developing properly. The vine doesn’t produce a crop and never recovers. The micro-organism is spread by a leafhopper, which lives only on the vine and has a two-month life cycle; its larvae are capable of hopping from leaf to leaf, while the adults fly. The action taken to combat its spread is as follows:

•Uproot and remove infected vines as quickly as possible.

•Kill the leafhopper using insecticide sprays through the season. This is now mandated by law throughout France in affected zones.

•All baby vines must be heat-treated before planting to ensure they are not already contaminated.

In Savoie, where infected vines were first found in 2000, inspection committees have been set up to identify infected vines. A local problem is the number of vines that are either abandoned or exist in private individuals’ properties – which can easily remain uninspected. In the past few years in Savoie 10,000–20,000 vines have had to be removed annually, the equivalent of 2–3ha or 0.1% of the total vineyard area. If no action is taken, the effects are dire – there are cases where hundreds of vines have become infected the year following an original infection of one sole vine. Jacquère is more susceptible than other varieties.

The difficulty is particularly acute for organic growers. Pyrévert is the only insecticide against the flavescence leafhopper authorized for organically certified vineyards; the spray biodegrades but it also kills a range of other insects and is highly noxious to humans. There is a race to try to find a more appropriate organic solution.

Managing disease

Just as the combination of rain and warmth is perfect for weeds and grass to get the upper hand, it’s also an ideal situation for fungal diseases to appear. From May to July vignerons take up the fight against the two mildews: le mildiou (peronospera or downy mildew) and oidium (powdery mildew). The ideal way is to train the vines and manage the canopy in such a way as to allow maximum air-flow – and in mountain areas, wind is not usually in short supply. But this alone is not enough and preventative spraying is required however the vines are managed. For most growers this means systemic or chemical sprays at least at the start of the season, if not throughout. Some will move to the traditional Bordeaux mixture (copper sulphate and lime) and use elemental sulphur against oidium. For those in organic regimes, Bordeaux mixture and sulphur are the main weapons, along with plant-based sprays and essential oils, and even whey from cheese-making. As in other winemaking regions there is much polemic about the dangers of copper build-up in the soil through over-use of Bordeaux mixture.

Black rot is another fungal disease that can be a particularly serious problem in Savoie, Bugey and beyond. Despite being around for a long time, this disease seems not to be well-understood or managed, and remedies are neither environmentally friendly nor very efficient. It appears in mild, wet weather and attacks both leaves and berries, especially if the vine is weakened by hail damage; it may also appear together with downy mildew. It can result in a very high level of crop loss and there has been a worrying increase of the disease in the past decade. Jacquère is the main, but not the only, variety affected and growers systematically spray against the disease. It is more difficult for organic growers but very recently an approved spray has been developed, but not yet adopted by all.

As everywhere in France and beyond, the wood-borne fungal disease esca is a problem without a solution at present. In Bugey 3–5% of vines are killed by the disease annually, with Chardonnay the most affected. In Savoie the figure claimed is below 2%, with Gamay and Jacquère the most affected. Muscat and Clairette in the Diois are also very sensitive to all wood diseases, including esca, losing 3–5% of vines annually.

Although once prevalent, anti-botrytis sprays are rarely used in the region now. Insecticides have also been eliminated by almost all producers, with the exception of compulsory sprays in certain regions against the leafhopper that spreads flavescence dorée.

Organics and biodynamics

Chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides were slow to arrive here, but once they did they were widely adopted, with only a few older vignerons resisting. In Savoie, one such was the Canelli-Suchet family of Marignan, and they were the first in Savoie to be certified organic in 1993. Over in the Diois, the pioneering estate was Domaine Achard-Vincent: grandfather Raymond Vincent adopted the Lemaire-Bouchet method in 1968, shunning chemicals and herbicides; his son-in-law Jean-Pierre Achard was recognized by the organic Nature et Progrès association in 1982; and the current generation, Thomas Achard-Vincent, works biodynamically, achieving Demeter recognition in 2005. In Bugey Cerdon, Philippe Balivet and Raphaël Bartucci converted to organics in the mid-1980s, becoming certified later. Back in Savoie, much more high profile was the conversion of Michel Grisard’s Domaine Prieuré Saint-Christophe estate direct to biodynamic farming from 1994, but it was not until the turn of the century that others followed his example even with organic viticulture. Nowadays it usually takes either a dynamic new generation of an existing estate or a new vigneron setting up from scratch to take the plunge; sometimes vignerons who are reaching retirement age, having paid off their debts, decide to convert for the sake of future generations or a future buyer of the estate.

Biodynamic producer Gilles Berlioz uses the services of Pierre Gallet and his mare, Jessy, for ploughing, here in a new Bergeron vineyard below the Chignin châteaux.

Taking a sustainable approach

How and when sprays are applied has a major effect on their environmental impact. In years when there are endless rainstorms it can be difficult to decide upon the most efficient time to spray, but almost all vignerons now subscribe to daily local forecasts by email, coupled with weekly advice specific to controlling vineyard disease.

The term agriculture raisonnée (reasoned or sustainable agriculture) no longer has one sole certification programme, but there are various schemes that thoughtful vignerons can sign up to, which encourage them to reduce chemical inputs. In Savoie, due to the proximity of the large Lac du Bourget and bearing in mind that chemicals end up in the river systems, those who are responsible for water quality are behind a five-year programme to assist vignerons to monitor and reduce their chemical use – around 20 vignerons are signed up. Terra Vitis provides certification for sustainable viticulture and is growing France-wide, but has had no take-up in Alpine areas so far. There is a big increase in producers signing up to Haute Valeur Environnementale (HVE), a sustainability programme created in 2011; but its follow-up control is not very well regarded by those who promote organics. In my view, every attempt to reduce environmental damage must be a step in the right direction.

Today in Bugey 19% of the AOC area is certified organic or officially in conversion. In the Diois more than 20% is certified organic. In Savoie, the figure is 9–10% of the AOC area (about the French national average). Outside the AOC regions, in the smaller and more unusual areas, organic farming is usually even more challenging than elsewhere and yet vignerons are even more committed – it is one way to show the world that their wines are worth seeking out.

There are various organic certification programmes: the best-known, Ecocert, is becoming more expensive and some vignerons are opting for other approved programmes, such as the locally run Alpes Contrôles, which still enables them to use the AB (agriculture biologique) organic logo on their labels. Nature et Progrès is a French organic association; standards are strictly controlled, but it does not subscribe to the third-party organic certification required by the EU. Demeter is the international certification for products of biodynamic agriculture; an alternative is Biodyvin.

The biggest challenges in the Alpine regions for organic viticulture are those that affect everyone – controlling the weeds and fighting fungal diseases. The latter, in particular, puts off some vignerons from converting to organics, partly for fear of losing all the crop and partly because they worry about introducing more copper into the soils. Mostly, though, it is the economics of organic farming that discourages vignerons. Traditionally, wines here have rarely commanded high prices – those vignerons with an established customer base fear losing customers through having to put up their prices to cover the necessary increased labour costs associated with organic viticulture in the mountains. If you want to be organic it’s a choice – very steep slopes and very steep prices (due to extra labour) or abandon the steep slopes and restrict yourself to gentler slopes, perhaps at greater risk of frost damage.

Organic vignerons in Savoie and Bugey have tended to cherry-pick biodynamic methods, such as using the main preparations to fortify the soil or using plant concoctions or oils for vine treatments to reduce copper use. Many follow the phases of the moon for key dates like bottling, but may not be sufficiently convinced to follow the biodynamic astral calendar for vineyard tasks. Few want to commit to expensive certification. Domaine Genoux (Château de Mérande) farms its 12ha biodynamically and was approved by Biodyvin in 2015. In Savoie, Claude Quenard et Fils, Domaine Curtet, Domaine Giachino and Florent Héritier are Demeter certified, with Gilles Berlioz and Adrien Berlioz among others in the application stage; in Bugey only Jean-Christophe Pellerin is Demeter certified and he currently works outside of the AOC regime. In the Diois, Domaine Achard-Vincent, Jaillance and Monge Granon have Demeter certification – the latter two for just a part of their vineyard holdings.

Harvest

You might imagine that harvest in the French Alps was late in the season, but summers and autumns can be hot, especially in recent decades. This fact, combined with the importance of sparkling wines for several regions (usually grapes for sparkling wines are picked early) and the sheer variety of different grapes grown, means that harvest can be very extended. Whereas not too many decades ago harvest rarely started before late September, these days it’s not unusual for it to start in early September or even in August – and some vignerons will still be picking in mid-October. In Savoie the earliest varieties to be picked are Velteliner Rouge Précoce and Pinot Gris (both known as Malvoisie), Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Gamay; then Altesse and Bergeron (Roussanne) and Persan; finally the late-ripening Jacquère and Mondeuse. In Haute-Savoie, picking dates for Chasselas vary according to producer. Gringet in Ayze is usually picked late in the season.

As in other wine regions, for cost and convenience, machine harvesting is widely used wherever the vineyards are not too steep and where it is allowed. Hand harvesting must be used for Crémant de Savoie and Crémant de Die, and for Bugey’s sparkling Montagnieu, but machine harvesting is allowed for other sparkling wines, including Cerdon. Of the three Bugey zones, the syndicate estimates that 80% is machine harvested in the Belley area and about 50% in the Cerdon and Montagnieu areas, where there are more steep slopes. In Savoie, estimates for machine harvesting vary from 60–80%; it is declining slightly due to Crémant requirements and better understanding of Mondeuse, which is particularly unsuited to machine harvesting, due to its stalks sometimes being unripe, thus a machine will damage the grapes.

Defenders of the machine rightly assert that designs are much improved – in fact in difficult weather years there are big advantages, not only for a faster harvest, but also new optical grape sorting options can eliminate rotten berries or help in case of unevenly ripened bunches. Machine harvesters are owned by large estates or are jointly owned by several growers in a CUMA, a kind of co-operative that shares vineyard and winery equipment. There are also companies that provide machine harvesting services. With the resurgence of whole bunch pressing in recent years, among quality producers there has been a move away from machine harvesting for red grapes, especially Mondeuse, and also for Altesse and Roussanne. Jacquère is extremely tough and ideal for machine picking, and in Bugey, where Gamay and Chardonnay dominate, so does the machine.

For manual harvest, finding good pickers is an increasing worry, as is the cost and bureaucracy involved to employ them. This is one of several reasons why vignerons choosing the organic route often prefer to keep their vineyard holdings small, so that they can rely mainly on family and friends to pick. In Chignin, Gilles Berlioz and Pascal Quenard have joined forces to share a harvest team, using them on alternate days. Another big challenge is once again the very steep slopes – one grower in Jongieux told me how he warns his picking team the day before they plan to pick on the Marestel slope, advising them not to come if they have any physical problems or are not feeling super-fit. It’s a scary job. Pulleys are used by some vignerons to bring the boxes of grapes up to the trailer at the top of the slope.

One of the advantages of all these small but scattered Alpine regions is that with the exception of the négociants and a very few new-style producers who buy in grapes, almost all the growers have vineyards very close to their wineries, often within a 5km radius, despite owning many parcels of vines. This means that grapes are transported to the winery for processing with little delay.

Harvesting Jacquère above Apremont in Savoie at Le Cellier du Palais, which picks entirely by hand.