At Menade, in addition to the multitude of natural viticultural measures and practices that we’ve instituted over the last few years – many based on age old practices – as part of our continuing efforts to complement and improve the estate’s ecosystem, we’re delighted to give you a little insight into our ongoing mobile tree project.
These are planted on trailers some 3 metres high, so that they can be towed out into the very different parcels of the vineyard and we can study their environmental impact – in other words, how, in the interests of further biodiversity, they might benefit the eco system.
We are currently trying out cherry, peach and almond trees in addition to different sorts of herbs such as thyme and rosemary; and, further, in some instances, we affix bee panels in order to study their effects at different times of year – for example to encourage pollination during the flowering season.
The aim of this (we think!) novel experiment is to ultimately plant different parcels of our vineyards with those varieties that prove most beneficial and adaptable and harmonize rather than restructure the many components of our living landscape.
This means that in addition to delving into the exact nature of root systems and the depths that they attain in order that there be no conflict or competition with the roots of the all important vines, we also need to figure out which soil types and what temperatures best suit the various varieties of trees and plants as well as the diverse reactions of the complex insect world.
