2.3.6.2 Row orientation
Row orientation is an important driver of grapevine sunburn.
Still many vineyards are oriented North/South, an orientation known to equally
distribute radiation on both sides. Yet, even when light is equally
distributed, berry temperature highly differs between canopy sides. As the sun
rises in the North-East during summer, the East facing side is sun-exposed
during the cool morning hours, while the other side is sun-exposed during the
high-temperature afternoons. As a result, the berries are exposed to
significantly temperatures according to their exposition, leading to higher
sunburn symptoms (Gambetta et al., 2021).
An experimentation at Château Margaux in 2020 brought to
light the sunburn symptoms differences between parcels with different
orientations. Indeed, other orientations than North/South have unequal light
distribution between row sides but globally show lower bunch temperatures. It
was found in this study that the most efficient row orientation in order to
avoid grape sunburn is the North-East/South-West orientation (Porte, 2020).
2.4 Grape sunburn at Château Margaux
According to the vineyard manager (interview in Annex
2), Château Margaux has faced sunburn for every vintage with high
temperatures, such as: 2003, 2005, 2011, 2018, 2020 and more recently 2022.
Sunburn represents a significative threat for grapevine production at
Château Margaux, as even small damages can cause yield losses, and
consequently economical losses. Due to the yield losses
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linked with sunburn, some parcels might stop entering the
first wine final blend, and will be declassified, resulting in additional
economical losses. Moreover, sunburn can reduce the wine quality due to berry
degradation caused by sunburn.
Overall, grape sunburn is a physiological disorder causing
berry degradation, whose intensity is exacerbated due to climate change. While
depending on many short- and long-term factors, its development is mostly
correlated to solar radiation and external temperature.
3. Strategic analysis of Château Margaux in a
context of climate change 3.1 The business sector of Château Margaux
3.1.1 The French wine industry
As it is known around the world, wine is an important part of
France's cultural and culinary heritage. Wine was first introduced in France
600 years before Christ, and was quickly propagated through the country, until
it became a part of French culture (FranceAgriMer, 2020).
For many centuries, grapevine cultivation was rich, until the
phylloxera crisis in 1864. This microscopic aphid pest was accidently
introduced on the French territory, causing the near disappearance of the
integrity of the French vineyard. In order to solve this problem, every French
vine was removed and replaced by grafted French plants on the aphid-resistant
American vines. Since then, the integrity of the French vineyard have grafted
plants (Berton, 2022).
The French winegrowing sector is spread on 66 departments, and
represents nearly 750 000 hectares of agricultural land, which accounts for 10%
of the world's agricultural surface dedicated to wine production (CNIV,
2019).
In 2019, France was the 2nd producer of wine in the
world - behind Italy - with an annual production of 4.2 billion of liters of
wine, representing 17% of the world wine production (CNIV, 2019). The
winegrowing sector is the second contributor in the trade balance - behind the
aeronautical sector - with a turnover of 12.7 billion euros in 2019.
France is also the 2nd biggest wine consuming
country in the world - behind the United States of America - with an annual
consumption of more than 3.5 billion of bottles consumed (CNIV 2019).
3.1.2 The wine industry in Bordeaux
The Bordeaux region is known all over the world for its
exceptional wines and its diversity of vineyards. With 115 223 hectares of
vineyard in production in 2019, Gironde is the first French viticultural
department in terms of land and incomes. It is also the department with the
most land under quality signs, representing 26% of the viticultural land under
the PDO label in France. So, viticulture is very prominent in this department,
as almost half of the used agricultural land is occupied by grapevines in 90%
of the municipalities in Gironde (Agreste Nouvelle-Aquitaine, 2020).
Regarding the value of its production, Gironde is at the
second position, with a production estimated to 2 billion euros in 2018. This
represents close to 80% of the total agricultural production value of the
department, and 3% of the French agricultural production (Agreste
Nouvelle-Aquitaine, 2020).
The Bordeaux vineyard is diverse and counts many prestigious
wine chateaux. To differentiate them, a classification was implemented in 1855,
for the 3rd Paris Universal Exposition. The winemaking chateaux were
ranked based on the quality of their wines, based on different criteria. The
wines from the Bordeaux region are known and appreciated all over the world,
creating market opportunities for wine producers.
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As a result of the high wine competition in Gironde, the
industry keeps evolving and adapting. More and more consumers are now looking
to consume more responsively and to diminish their environmental impact, as do
the wine producers. In this context, the wine industry in Bordeaux keeps
improving its performances in terms of sustainable development. In 2019, more
than 65% of the vineyards of Bordeaux were certified by an environmental
approach. Among them, the most popular are organic and integrated viticulture
(Terra Vitis, HVE3, ISO 14001, etc.) (CIVB, 2020).
3.2 Presentation of Château Margaux
Château Margaux is a first growth in the Médoc
Classification of 1855 (« Premier Grand Cru Classé en 1855 »),
located in Margaux.
3.2.1 Appellation and terroir of Château
Margaux
Most of Château Margaux's vineyard is in the Margaux
Protected Designation of Origin terroir. This terroir is part of the
Médoc, one of the six biggest wine regions in Bordeaux, alongside the
left-part of the Gironde estuary. The Margaux PDO is close to 1 490 hectares
(Hachette, 2009) and is close to the Atlantic Ocean. Its position allows it to
have an oceanic and temperate climate, with an average rainfall of 763.48 mm
per year, based on the Margaux Sencrop weather station (average calculated
between 1996 and 2015).
Figure 3: Map of the Bordeaux vineyard, and location
of the Margaux appellation (red box) (CIVB, 2020)
As it can be observed on Figure 3, the Bordeaux
vineyard is wildly spread in the Gironde department and is mainly composed by
six winegrowing regions: Graves and Pessac-Léognan, Médoc,
Entre-Deux-Mers, Libournais, Blayais-Bourgeais, Barsac and Sauternes (CIVB,
2020). Viticulture therefore is an important part of the Bordeaux region that
generates a significant economic activity. From the grape-growing activity to
the wine selling activity, this sector is represented in Gironde by not less
than 7 555 establishments and 32 000 employees (Agreste Nouvelle-Aquitaine,
2020).
Château Margaux's terroir is diverse, with more than 60
different types of soil, represented in Annex 3.
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3.2.2 The vineyard management
The main challenge of Château Margaux is to have
environmentally and humanly friendly practices while adapting to climate
change. Their objective is to develop the company and their practices to keep
producing quality grapes that express the terroir typicity.
In this context, the current vineyard management practices can
be modified to implement climate change up to a certain point, as long as those
practices do not affect berry and wine quality.
3.2.2.1 Current vineyard management
The vineyard of Château Margaux represents 262 total
hectares of land, in which only 94 hectares are used for grape production. The
other hectares are dedicated to forests and meadows, allowing the company to
welcome cows and sheep. 82 hectares are located in the Margaux appellation (red
varieties), whereas 12 hectares are located in the «Bordeaux
Supérieur» appellation.
The vineyard is composed of different grape varieties. For the
red wine, the Cabernet Sauvignon is the main variety, holding 52% of the
vineyard. Then comes the Merlot in second position with 26% of the vineyard,
followed by 7% of Petit Verdot, and 3% of Cabernet Franc. The white wine is
entirely made out of Sauvignon Blanc, representing 13% of the vineyard.
Cabernet Sauvignon is preferred by the production team for its
adaptability to the Médoc terroir. However, this variety, along with the
rest of the vineyard, is subject to grape sunburn.
The parcels are distributed in blocks close to the
Château. In total, the property counts 8 blocks of red grape varieties,
and 1 block of white grape variety. The map of the vineyard's parcel blocks and
grape varieties can be found in Annex 4.
The density of plantation is 10 000 plants per hectare (1m x
1m) for the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, and 6 677
plants per hectare (1.5m x 1m) for the Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc. This density
of plantation is kept by complantation5.
To combat grape worms, pheromone diffusers were integrated all
over the vineyard causing sexual confusion and disrupt mating between male and
female butterflies.
At the end of the year (December-March), the vine stocks are
pruned using the Medocain method, the most popular pruning method in Bordeaux,
for red grapes. This method consists of leaving each vine stock with one cane
on both sides of the trunk (double Guyot), each carrying three buds and two
spurs, allowing the cutter to continue working easily on the same vine stock
the next year without its extension. The additional parts that aren't used are
cut, and both canes are bent and attached to the carrying wire. For the white
grapes, they use the simple Guyot pruning method (only one cane) with six buds
and they alternate the sides for the spur. The cane is then also bent and
attached to the carrying wire.
The plowing-down starts from the bud burst stage, followed by
the mechanical weeding of the plots, using claws and blades. A second
plowing-down takes place during the summer, when the soil under the vine stocks
is covered in weeds. Grass covers in the rows are only kept for the Merlot
parcels and on clay soils, all year long to better the soil bearing capacity.
The property doesn't use herbicides and prefer the use of mechanical weeding
methods.
When the plants are growing, different vine treatments are
implemented. For the phytosanitary strategy, certified authorized organic
products are used as much as possible. Most coverage treatments are done with
copper and sulfur-based solutions during the vegetative period. However, the
company doesn't want the organic certification, as they consider that copper
treatment has its limits and can eventually
5 The action of planting new vine-stock where holes
are present in the vineyard.
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become toxic for their soils. Château Margaux are also
experimenting new natural and biodegradable products less toxic than copper and
sulfur, and are searching for alternative methods against those treatments,
through scientific trials. In 2022, around 11 coverage treatments were done.
At the fruit set stage, the vines are trellised and trimmed.
Shoot removal takes place in May, followed by thinning operations in July.
Finally, harvests are done manually in 5kg crates brought to the sorting line
before being processed. At the end of harvest, there is a hilling done to the
plants with a ridging plough.
3.2.2.2 Vineyard management strategies in a context of
climate change
Consequences of climate change at the scale of Château
Margaux are multifactorial. To start with, some lands are expected to be lost
in the future due to the vineyard's proximity to the Gironde. Then, climate
change will also impact the vineyard management strategies, as alternative
solutions to reduce its consequences will have to be implemented to maintain
grape quality (interview in Annex 2).
Experimentations are currently being conducted before
implementing changes at the scale of the vineyard. Most vineyard management
practices have been in place for hundreds of years, so the company wants to
make sure that quality wouldn't be affected by new practices before applying
solutions to the integrity of the vineyard.
Château Margaux has acquired some knowledge on their
practices, vineyard and wine, which is essential for innovation. The main
challenge that climate change has brought to the company is to adapt their
vineyard management strategies without affecting their typicity, and while
assuring at the same time to stay in the PDO.
In this context, they can consider changing the company's
practices in the vineyard, up to a certain point. For example, a solution to
face climate change might be to change the implanted grape variety based on the
Huglin Index adapted varieties. However, this would affect the wine typicity,
so it cannot be considered (Leeuwen and Darriet, 2016).
To adapt, one strategy is to delay the vineyard operations in
order to defer the maturation date and overcome the consequences of global
warming. For example, by performing late pruning (March), the budburst is
delayed by a couple of days. Another possibility is to raise the trimming
height of the canopy to produce more shade and reduce the temperature.
To overcome the potential water deficit, it can be considered
to lower the plantation density to reduce soil water use. As the climate is
oceanic, irrigation strategies should only be considered as a last resort.
Climate change will also cause the multiplication of climate
events such as hailstorms and drought events. In Argentina, where hailstorms
are frequent, anti-hail nets are used at a large scale in the vineyards
(Loussert, 2017). Those type of nets can be very useful for the vineyard but
are for now unauthorized by the PDO registry.
3.2.3 The place of climate change in the company's
organization
The property was bought in 1977 by André
Mentzelopoulos. Corinne Mentzelopoulos, his daughter, is now the owner and CEO,
since her father's death in 1980. The company has two offices: one in Margaux,
and another one in Paris. The office in Paris is mainly dedicated to
administration and accounting. The site in Margaux comprises: the production
(vineyard management, cellar, maintenance, expeditions), the R&D
department, IT, visits and external relations.
An organigram summarizing the organization of the company can be
found in Annex 5.
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Apart from affecting the agricultural management of companies,
global warming also impacts, and will keep impacting, companies' global
managerial strategies to consider this major change.
The objective of Château Margaux is to maintain their
wine quality and typicity, what makes it emblematic. In order to deal with this
climate change and maintain both the typicity and quality of their wines,
Château Margaux try to find adaptation strategies. The R&D department
is therefore very important for the company, at it is financed with the
objective to find solutions to current problems, to build tomorrow's
company.
What makes Château Margaux different from the other
vineyards is their preoccupation about innovation and allocate money to
research topics linked with climate change.
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