En Gironde, the vine is queen. With 115,000 hectares exploited, we know grapes… provided we make wine from them. The production of table grapes, on the other hand, remains marginal: only nine hectares according to the figures communicated by the Chamber of Agriculture.
And yet, some winegrowers are beginning to take a serious interest in it, with the support of the Chamber. This is the case of Benjamin Tartas, in Morizès, between Langon and La Réole. At 25, this operator, son and grandson of a winegrower, decided…
En Gironde, the vine is queen. With 115,000 hectares exploited, we know grapes… provided we make wine from them. The production of table grapes, on the other hand, remains marginal: only nine hectares according to the figures communicated by the Chamber of Agriculture.
And yet, some winegrowers are beginning to take a serious interest in it, with the support of the Chamber. This is the case of Benjamin Tartas, in Morizès, between Langon and La Réole. At 25, this operator, son and grandson of a winegrower, decided to “no longer put his eggs in one basket, in order to be less dependent on the vagaries of the market and the weather”. The devastating thunderstorms and mildew of 2021 are still on people’s minds.
Here, there is no conflict between the ancients and the moderns. His father, Thierry, 57, is on the same wavelength. “My grandfather had three hectares of vines. My father, ten hectares. We have 60… It’s always more, but how far are we going to go? Do we live better for all that? The price of the barrel has fallen, the work on the farm has increased. Where’s the fun? »
The pleasure of innovating
The pleasure, precisely, Benjamin finds in the implementation of this new production. By rediscovering the joy of learning. Pruning, harvesting, sorting… table grapes are not cared for like wine grapes. “Wine sells less well. We have a large area of vines. I can’t see myself driving these 60 hectares alone when my father retires. Hence this idea of diversification. »
A kind of homecoming in this farm, where we had cows two generations back, and cereals not so long ago. Before switching to monoculture of the vine, “like many farmers here”, when Bordeaux wines were on the rise.
In 2010, the Tartas planted 12 rows of 12 different varieties of table grapes. “My project is to identify resistant varieties, or in any case less fragile. Those that require the least treatment, in order to be able to produce organically, like part of the vine. The crop being very seasonal, it is interesting to produce several varieties, from the earliest to the latest, in order to cover the widest possible harvest period, from mid-August to mid-November.
Benjamin Tartas and his father Thierry, passionate about innovation and committed to giving meaning to their profession.
Laurent Theillet / “South West”
Benjamin’s eyes are no bigger than his stomach. “I’m going to start with one or even two hectares. We have to be reasonable, because the harvest of this grape falls at the same time as the harvest, and wine will remain our main production. »
Produce little, but valued
Françoise Ligou, who follows the file at the Chamber of viticulture, approves this plan. “People who are getting into table grapes in Gironde today do so on small surfaces, but with added value via short circuits and direct sales, in the absence of an organized sector: Amap, school catering, etc. With one million inhabitants in the metropolis, and at the rate of one to two kilos per year and per inhabitant, there is plenty to do. »
“No longer put your eggs in one basket, in order to be less dependent on the vagaries of the market and the weather”
Muscat bleu, suffolk red… With table grapes, Benjamin Tartas appreciates a freedom of action, particularly in the choice of varieties, which he sometimes lacks in viticulture, the Bordeaux appellations are very controlled on this point. “Besides, I began to produce wines from France in addition to AOPs, in order to be able to choose different bottle shapes and old grape varieties. In short, for the pleasure of experimenting and differentiating. »
In addition to the outlets offered by diversifying, the Tartas find there the “meaning” of peasant gestures, sometimes drowned in the race for economies of scale and “agribusiness management”. Benjamin has other projects in mind: “I would like to sell juice, and grow pomegranates for that. Kiwis could make their arrival in the old cereal plots. The ancestral apple and pear trees present on the farm are regrafted. And Thierry has even planted truffle oaks. So many different baskets in which to distribute your “eggs”.
A study day
The same plant, but not the same job. The production of table grapes is more akin to arboriculture than to viticulture. To find out, Françoise Ligou, from the Chamber of Agriculture, is organizing a study day on February 3 in Tarn-et-Garonne, where the Chasselas de Moissac sector is very structured. “Be careful, I’m not selling it as a miracle solution for farms in difficulty,” she warns. To get started, you have to be in good health, to be able to invest. One hectare of table grapes costs around 25,000 euros.