"When you visit wineries today that process large tonnages of red wine, and you see the scale of the mechanical means used and the energy consumed, you wonder how was it possible to make wine over the past three or four millennia, when such equipment did not exist, and yet produce the high quality wines that have made the reputation of today's great vineyards.
In fact, the winemaking methods we now call classic, conventional or rational, are recent inventions and have their origins in the intensive, industrial methods used in North Africa before the First World War, which were introduced into Europe in 1920 by engineers from the Ecole Agronomique de Maison-Carrée. "
Max Léglise
It’s time for us to reclaim what we produce in our natural spaces, so that it can once again meet our needs, our territories and our traditions, and respond to very real expectations. The production model seems questionable to us and we are committed to an alternative approach. An approach in which people regain their central role as local players in agricultural production. We want to opt for a long-term vision that is both global and collective.
In our vineyards, this approach translates into slow work aimed at reproducing ancestral techniques that tend to disappear. The tools used are simple and never break down. Motorised tools are limited and no 'self-propelled' tools are used. Our priority is the good health of our soils and the re-introduction of a large and varied auxiliary fauna. We want to put chickens, bats and ladybirds to work, as they are all merciless pest hunters. Respecting simple cultivation principles, such as introducing a diversity of species or avoiding over-enriching the soil, since we know that this attracts different 'parasites' to our vines...
Le Clos Vagabond also hopes that by creating a wine tourism facility, it will be able to share with as many people as possible this vision of a revival, a slow, green and efficient evolution of the agricultural world.
We believe that wine should be the fruit of passionate work.
