In Savoie, some fields are covered in red. The time has come to plant the future vines, which will then be sold to the winegrowers.
It is nicknamed the valley of the red sticks. In spring, in Savoie, the fields seem to be strewn with flowers. They are actually vines covered in wax. Since 7:30 a.m., on the morning of Wednesday May 10 in Aiton (Savoie), agricultural workers have been lining up the young plants. “You have to plant the plants as straight as possible, because the agricultural machinery will pass, they must not be damaged”says Audrey Faugeroux.
Protect against phylloxera
In this wine nursery, the planting stage is tricky. Two million sticks are to be planted by the end of the month. The vines are grafted in the workshop in March, then coated with paraffin to protect the buds from wind and bad weather. This know-how, inherited from the 19th century, makes young plants more resistant to phylloxera, an insect that once ravaged French vineyards. Today, the department of Savoie is the second largest producer of grape varieties.
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