Commitments

In 2021, we decided to start our conversion to organic farming. This conversion, which lasts for a period of three years, will begin this year and will be completed in 2024, by which time we aim to have the entirety of our vineyards, both red and white varieties, certified as organically-farmed

Chateau Fleur Cardinale is member of the First Association of the Environmental Management System (E.M.S.) for the Wines of Bordeaux, certified ISO 14001 since 2013. This framework is based on the ISO 14001 standard, which addresses the impacts of businesses on their environment in terms of energy and water consumption, sorting waste, effluents, recycling waste, cultivation methods, combatting pests, and employee health and safety.
Our certification is available here.

We use no chemical weedkillers and have tilled our vines mechanically for many years. The use of cover crops on all our parcels also reduces erosion and naturally decompacts the soil, which we no longer have to do by machine. The cover crops also improve the soil’s porosity and bearing capacity.

We combat grapevine moth using organically certified mating disruption systems, which enables us to rule out all insecticides, except for products against flavescence dorée, which are legally required by ministerial statute in France.

We do not burn the freshly cut vine prunings in winter, preferring to chip them and use them as a soil conditioner, thereby reducing our total input of amendments. These amendments are certified as organic and are only introduced to compensate for what the vines use up in the year. They are added in carefully measured quantities on certain parcels after thorough monitoring of the vigour of the vine’s growth with a drone. Also, the cultivation of cover crops, again according to the needs of each parcel, provides nutrition for the vines, which since 2017 we have no longer had to supply in the form of organic fertilisers.

We have decided to opt for eco-responsible labels for all the wines in the range: firstly, the paper is now 95% made up of sugar cane fibre and 5% of hemp and linen fibre. Secondly, the inks used on the labels are vegetal inks, i.e. containing varnishes and diluents of vegetal origin and which are renewable. Finally, we have abandoned the use of gold foil and varnishes on the labels.

Lastly, for the whole range, we have opted for lighter glass bottles. These are of exactly the same high quality, and they enable us to save up to 8 tons of raw material per year, while reducing the environmental impact incurred during transport.

Our washing area enables us to recover all our vineyard and winery effluents and from the oil separator tank, which are then processed by specialist collection services.

As a general rule, all our new equipment and machinery is selected for high energy performance and low carbon footprint. Our new vathouse will therefore be equipped with stainless steel truncated cone-shaped tanks fitted with twin skins and heat regulation systems. This “thermos” effect produces great heat inertia and will contribute significantly to energy savings.

Starting with the 2018 vintage, we encourage the consumers to give a second life to the wooden cases of 6 and 12 bottles for all our wines. A message is carved in the bottom of each case, explaining the importance of not throwing it away, along with an assembly plan for making a bird box (for instance). Every year, the plan will be different!

The glossy annealed stainless steel used to make our new tanks, is easier to wash and therefore contribute to substantially reducing the quantities of water required.

A rainwater capture system provides water to irrigate the landscaped terrace above the new cellar.

We ask all our barrel suppliers to deliver barrels without plastic packaging. In general, we are working on recovering the packaging with our suppliers so that they can reuse and recycle it.