25% of Moët Hennessy vineyards are certified in sustainable agriculture
Support is also provided to get contract farmers certified

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Following this discussion, I interviewed Mr. Le Guillou about Moët Hennessy's specific environmental initiatives.

Across the entire group, Moët Hennessy owns 1,500 ha of vineyards in Champagne, 25% of which already have HVE (haute valeur environnementale: “high environmental value”) or VDC (viticulture durable en Champagne: “sustainable viticulture in Champagne”) certification. Veuve Clicquot completely eliminated the use of herbicides in 2017.

According to Le Guillou, early growing of undergrowth in the vineyard prevents soil runoff, and the grass is ploughed out from March to July, when competition between grass and vines is a problem. “We work in the vineyards with lightweight tractors to avoid pressuring the soil, and we even let the sheep graze in the vineyards,” he explained. Pheromone capsules are used to control pests by disrupting their mating process. Rather than limiting these measures to their own vineyards, Moët Hennessy provides feedback from the knowledge they have gathered to the growers who provide grapes to their Champagne houses. Moët Hennessy even backs up the authentication process.

Le Guillou says that Moët Hennessy is dedicated to helping solve climate change, receiving one-third of their total electricity worldwide from green energy (100% in France), and limiting product transportation to railway and sea travel, avoiding the use of diesel and aircrafts where possible. The goal of these efforts is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Initiatives relating to climate change are a necessity
Grape varieties and clones are also changing

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In the discussion on the topic “How should we adapt to climate change?”, Pauline Lhote, Winemaking Director at Chandon California, mentioned the following issues.

“California has been described as having a stable Mediterranean climate, but it’s not now. From year to year, the climate changes, and there are vintage differences in the wines,” she said.

She therefore emphasized that it is necessary to implement various initiatives for coping with climate change. Her suggestions included changing row directions and planting densities, canopy management, irrigation practices, and night harvesting.

As a measure against global warming, Portuguese and cross-fertilized grape varieties have recently been made eligible for Bordeaux AOC and Bordeaux Supérieur status. Professor Kees Van Leeuwen of the University of Bordeaux was involved in these revisions, noting that “the same grape variety will have a different wine style if the climate changes.” The selection of stock and clones will become even more important in the future. “In the past, well-ripened clones were popular, but now, late ripening clones will be the focus of attention,” he said.

The youngest ever “world’s best sommelier”
Can he tell which wines are organic?

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Marc Almert, who was named the youngest ever Best Sommelier of the World last year at the age of 27, spoke on the topic "Organic, natural, biodynamic, what's the difference?” He engaged in discussion with winemakers from South France and South Africa.

Jasper Raats of the Longridge Wine Estate in South Africa was asked by the moderator to define each type of wine. In his response, he said that organic wine requires “looking down,” biodynamic wine requires “looking down, and then up,” and natural wine requires “looking back.” In other words, organic growing requires looking down at the soil; biodynamic growing is similar to organic, but makers must also look up at the sky to refer to the movements of the celestial bodies; and natural growing requires makers to look back and retrace the past.

Those gathered at the booth asked Almert if he could tell the difference between organic and biodynamic wine in a blind tasting. He replied, “It’s difficult, but I can sometimes correctly guess that a wine might have been made organically or biodynamically based on its aftertaste and complexity.”