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The ban on irrigation is lifted in several Bordeaux appellations. Exemptions were made for the third year in a row for Pessac-Léognan and for the first time for Pomerol. Jacques Lurton, the president of the Pessac-Léognan winegrowers' association, who has gained experience with irrigation in the New World, says: "It is often young vines that need water, but not only. It affects all plants whose roots are not deep. If the plant is suffering from drought stress, you have to give it something to drink immediately. We have entered a very complicated stress period. At the moment, it doesn't look like we will have as massive a harvest as we had hoped. If the plants don't get water before harvest, there are problems with juice yield.".
Lurton urges consideration of a redesign of viticultural practices in Bordeaux: "The Bordeaux model was built on a rainfall of 800 to 1200 mm/year with drained soils and an approach that puts the vines under drought stress. We will have to adapt." The biggest challenge, however, is getting water in the first place, he said. This, he says, is the problem of irrigation in the long run. "It's not solved," says Lurton.
(al / source: vitisphere; photo: 123rf)
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