Panorama de presse quotidien du 22 07 2021

formalized in an agreement signed between the Institut National de l'Origine et de la Qualité
(INAO), the SGV and the Comité Champagne (CIVC). Dr Alain Carbonneau, from the
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), who had so far overseen the lower
density project and who had questioned some of the initial VSL results, was quickly replaced
by the CIVC technical team, who became the final overseers of the VSL project. Hereafter,
results were no longer publicly available to all winegrowers, only project participants received
regular updates.
Despite its long history, and almost certain positive vote at the end of the month, the proposed
changes to the Cahier des Charges to include the VSL have been widely criticized. One of the
main reasons for the criticism is a lack of transparency on the results. This is why a small
group of growers launched a petition to delay the SGV vote. In fact, the vote has already been
delayed twice, the first time in 2019, because not all studies were completed, and a second
time in March to provide a bit more time to inform winegrowers and gain more support.
Pressing ahead
If the SGV administrators decide to go ahead with the VSL inclusion, the INAO still has the
final approval of Cahier des Charges changes – this, if all goes well, will not likely happen
before 2023. However, if an opposition procedure is launched at the INAO, the VSL project
approval may take a lot longer, and may even be refused. The push to pass this change so
quickly, with so many people opposing it, is therefore even odder.
When asked why he was so keen to pass the VSL approval amid the worst growing season in
recent history and to start the Cahier des Charges procedure before harvest, Maxime Toubart,
president of the SGV (and co-president of the CIVC) told Wine-Searcher: "We received the
final dossier from the CVIC's Technical Team at the beginning of this year and were told that
there was no point in postponing this dossier any longer as all technical tests had received
enough positive results. This is an opportunity to bring innovation to Champagne, and it will
help us to achieve our objectives of zero herbicides, 50 percent less pesticides and 25 percent
less carbon emissions by 2025. It is further an excellent tool to adopt to climate change, it will
facilitate our work in the vineyards and it has significant economic benefits. There is no
obligation to adopt the VSL, it is just an extra tool, another string to our bow, to be more
successful in our quest to produce quality wines worthy of the Champagne appellation, which
has been recognized by Unesco World Heritage. I therefore see no reason to further deprive
the growers and houses from the multiple advantages the VSL can bring them."
Nevertheless, the argument made by Toubart is not as solid as it may seem. To start, the VSL
tests conducted by the CIVC and several other growers, continued to use herbicides under the
row – even if mechanical weeding under the row should technically be easier than in the
current plantation system. When asked in 2019 why the CIVC had opted to use herbicides
under the row, Arnaud Descotes, technical director at the CIVC, replied that they did not have
the necessary equipment to weed mechanically, an argument which will most certainly be
copied, at least initially, by growers and houses opting to convert to the VSL system.
Furthermore, since they did not have the correct equipment, the tests indicating better
pesticide absorption have been mainly concluded on artificial vines in test conditions in
Montpellier. Besides the climate differences between Montpellier and Champagne, different
studies have pointed out the irregularities between spray efficiency in artificial and real
conditions. And as there will be more mechanical tasks, which will take longer, it’s unlikely
that the CO2 output will be reduced much faster than under the current system.