Context
Delphine and Benoît both come from a farming family in Charente-Maritime. When they arrived in Gironde about 15 years ago, they set up in organic farming on the Domaine Emile Grelier vineyard located in the town of Lapouyade.
The two founders wish to create a vineyard that represents their values:
- organic wine
- experiment with techniques in favor of biodiversity (accommodation, nature events, participatory harvests, workshop for making grape juice, etc.)
The challenges for the Possibility:
- Protect biodiversity and ecosystems: cultivate organically, practice agroforestry, be a refuge for birds, promote the presence of auxiliary insects, welcome bats and snakes, cherish the soil, etc.
- Supporting behavioral changes: Delphine and Benoît want to demonstrate their skills to schools and develop partnerships with associations, educational establishments and research centers.
- Produce, consume and work locally: the project will help maintain local production and jobs. It will also guarantee balanced, decent work and will favor responsible purchasing.
- Added to this are the global environmental challenges; conserve water resources, favor renewable energies, use resources sustainably, reduce waste, etc.
Project
Implementation
Delphine and Benoît set up in an already existing vineyard, the Domaine Emile Grelier, which they can freely invest to develop their project. This vineyard, with the future name La Bardonne,will be developed according to an eco-responsible approach with the following commitments:
- switch all the vines to organic as soon as the site is bought, for official certification in 2020.
- extend to Bardonne the agroforestry approach already initiated on the Domaine Emile Grelier. By 2025, between 20 and 40 trees per hectare will be planted at the heart of the crops.
- become a refuge for birds and bats
- experiment permaculture from the second year, through the practice of joualle. This Gallo-Roman method consists in associating fruit trees and an inter-row cultivation of vegetables or cereals with the vines.
- invite the “corporate partners” once a year to participate in the life of the Château: manual harvest, bottling, etc.
- preserve jobs and encourage the local for new collaborations.
- favor eco-materials for the renovation of buildings.
The goal is to create a “coworking farmer” space by sharing spaces, equipment and knowledge. The agricultural domain becomes a collective place and hosts different productions, bringing together winemakers, market gardeners, creators of jams and juices, artisans, etc. They want to create a living, active, united and collaborative domain.
The hoped-for outcome would be in 2030, La Bardonne would become a land of expression for holders of innovative projects (conferences, meetings and seminars) and a protected area for biodiversity in an agroforestry experiment.
Project leaders
- Benoît has been a winemaker for fifteen years and has worked in the vineyard for over twenty years. He holds a Viti-Oeno BTS qualification and grew up on an organic farm. He defends the organic farming method which maintains and improves the fertility of the soil, promotes biodiversity, preserves the quality of water and air, while respecting human health.
- Delphine is the daughter of a farmer in the Charentes. After a career in commerce and services, she joined her husband Benoît on the Domaine Emile Grelier. She takes care of creating and developing partnerships, marketing wines, communicating on the process. She wants to show that another viticulture is possible.
Written by Claire Caillaud, volunteer LFC - June 2019.
Last modification : 06 Apr 2020.
La Possiblerie
La Possiblerie is the expression of a new peasantry.
Created by Delphine and Benoit Vinet, winemakers at Domaine Emile Grelier, La Possiblerie is more than a philosophy: it is a real adventure, human and wine-growing!