HOW WE PROTECT OUR LANDS FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW


In his 22 years with Chandon, Winegrowing Director Carlos Danti has witnessed the growing importance of more sustainable farming practices in winemaking.


“I studied sustainability later in my career. It wasn't something that was so important at the beginning,” said Carlos. “There has been a learning curve in many aspects.” Now he consistently looks for ways to make our growing process more sustainable — even if it makes it more challenging.


Many of these improvements have created ways to work with our surrounding ecosystem to rely less on adding anything unnatural to our environment. We not only work on the land; we work with the land.


“Actually, what we are doing is we're trying to understand nature at a different level,” said Carlos. “We’ve learned how to intervene in the ecosystem as little as possible and reduce changes to natural balances.”


In Part 2 of our series, we’ll explore how our farming practices work in harmony with our lands — and how we’re working to care for the planet.



WE MANAGE OUR ECOSYSTEM CAREFULLY AND RESPONSIBLY

We understand that our vines are only a part of the larger ecosystem where our lands lie and work in harmony with it while also maintaining conditions that are ideal for growing our grapes.








We use means within that ecosystem to help control plant and animal species within the vineyards to help our vines thrive. To control vertebrates like gophers and moles, we install “owl boxes” that attract barn owls to nest there. When the gopher and mole population goes up, then more owls can thrive there to control that population. We’re helping one species control the other without directly intervening.











Any kind of agriculture requires managing insect populations, but we do it in ways that don’t use insecticides. We release beneficial insects to control the insects we don’t want in our vineyards. It’s a mild intervention that’s planned carefully. If you release too many beneficial insects, they won’t have enough food to survive.







We also plant pollinator rows in 1 of every 10 rows to support a healthy bee population. Bees aren’t a part of our growing process, but we’re doing our part to help support their shrinking population — and can even get some honey for the winery.







Many different species travel across our vineyards, so we’ve worked with biologists to plan every new vineyard block we build to provide a natural corridor for animals to move across our lands.

WE'RE COMMITTED TO ZERO-WASTE AND RENEWABLE ENERGY

It’s our goal to become zero-waste at the winery, and we’re working to recycle every material we can. When we pull out selected blocks of the vineyard for replanting, we’re left with organic matter, metal, and some limited plastic. We separate all of these for recycling — and we’re phasing out plastic altogether in favor of biodegradable options.

RECYCLED MATERIAL

It’s our goal to become zero-waste at the winery, and we’re working to recycle every material we can. When we pull out selected blocks of the vineyard for replanting, we’re left with organic matter, metal, and some limited plastic. We separate all of these for recycling — and we’re phasing out plastic altogether in favor of biodegradable options.

We also utilize the vines and other organic matter to create biochar, which produces a carbon-rich material that’s great for conditioning our soil to hold water for the next vintage.

REUSING ORGANIC MATTER

We also utilize the vines and other organic matter to create biochar, which produces a carbon-rich material that’s great for conditioning our soil to hold water for the next vintage.

We’ve even identified opportunities to utilize renewable energy wherever possible. When we pump water to the vineyard, it doesn’t require much energy, but we’ve installed solar panels to offset any energy this consumes.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

We’ve even identified opportunities to utilize renewable energy wherever possible. When we pump water to the vineyard, it doesn’t require much energy, but we’ve installed solar panels to offset any energy this consumes.

In an effort to minimize any use of fossil fuels, we’ve been exploring the possibility of implementing electric tractors in our vineyards as the technology becomes more widely available. We’re not only committed to our lands; we want to help take care of the planet.

REUSING REDUCED FOSSIL FUELS MATTER

In an effort to minimize any use of fossil fuels, we’ve been exploring the possibility of implementing electric tractors in our vineyards as the technology becomes more widely available. We’re not only committed to our lands; we want to help take care of the planet.