Pascale in the Paradise Rescued Hourcat Sud Cabernet Franc vines – Passion in action!
Today’s commercial world is very focused on guarding its IP or intellectual property. We thought we would turn that picture on its head today and share a key ingredient of our Paradise Rescued magic, an important aspect of our success in the vineyards of Cardan, Bordeaux. This treatment is so secret that you will have difficulty seeing it in our materials stock room alongside the traditional organic Copper based treatments and vineyard accessories. In the vines, you can see what it does, how it works but you can’t really touch it. Yet its success gets into every part and pore of our operation. It starts at the top and works its way down. It begins at the bottom and then percolates up into every aspect of our vineyard operation. You wish you could buy it at the viticultural supplier’s store but its nowhere to be seen on the shelves. So what is this secret and how does it work?
There’s more to creating a healthy vineyard than simply pruning correctly, spraying diligently and picking fruit at the right time. It’s called Passion!
It is the desire for positive outcomes and achievement. It is compelling infectious enthusiasm. It delivers energy, dedication, continual improvement, vision and excellence. It brings with it commitment, responsibility and burning desire. It is reasonable to argue that vines don’t talk – at least in the languages that we use to communicate normally. But you can see it in their “body language” and you can appreciate, over time, how they respond to attentive detail, care and love.
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Back from the dead! “Old Vine Block” Merlot – now a picture of vigour and health
The best example of this can be seen in our “Old Vine Block” Merlots, a tiny 35m by 30m square section of land at the southerly end of the beautiful Hourcat Centre terroir. In 2010, these vines were “cut to death” and effectively abandoned. Overgrown with grass, weeds and ivy, a miracle was required to salvage anything of value. Care, hands on effort and the passion of one Pascale Bervas, our vigneronne has delivered an unimaginable transformation. Vines aren’t humans (that’s evident!) but they can respond like us to the input they receive. Passion has made the difference in restoring this tiny piece of heritage back into one of the most vigorous small block vineyards in Bordeaux. The same can be said for the progress made with our Hourcat Sud Cabernet Franc block. Whilst these much younger vines were by no means close to death, their maltreatment and neglect, when purchased, was obvious. Creating an almost unique fine Bordeaux varietal Cabernet Franc could not have happened by luck alone.
Here’s hoping that last night’s storms haven’t unloaded any damage on our vines and fruit. Fingers crossed.
But it all starts with passion…[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]