SLOW WINE
Today’s Paris daily Libération (April 29) has a double-page spread (no less!) by Olivier Bertrand on a growing trend to replace tractors with plow horses to work the rows in French vineyards. The horses do less damage to vines and soils, adopters reckon, not to mention the fact that working with a draft animal is less backbreaking and soul-destroying than sitting atop a tractor. According to Bertrand, there are even people who are taking it up as a full-time job in Burgundy, hiring their services out for €50-€70 an hour. It’s all part of the much bigger movement to enhance the character of French terroirs and the wines they produce by avoiding the use of pesticides and other synthetic treatments. All power to their elbows. Richard Hesse
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