Blog @ Flyfaire
French Hemp Winery. Say what?
by Flyfaire Wines on 03/04/13
We here at
Flyfaire Wines love to keep on the lookout for the latest innovations within
the wine industry; especially when it comes to sustainable vineyard ideas to
add to our bucket list. Upon reading the
latest Wine Spectator, we fell upon an article which talked about a very different
type of vineyard in the fabulous Languedoc region (a province in the South of
France, lying between the foothills of the Pyrenees and the River Rhône).
As with all
things, it’s you things you least expect that surprise you. This particular vineyard is not different
because of its wine (although, I am sure its wine is fabulous), no – it’s
because of their cellar door. Given we
are nearing opening our sustainable cellar door (Queen’s Bday Weekend, June
2013); we thought it poignant to chat about this as a comparison idea for a
sustainable vineyard.
So, what’s the
interesting thing about Château Maris (Château = castle) and its cellar door? Well, it is that the building is made from
hemp and straw bricks! We at Flyfaire
Wines find this an extremely interesting concept given hemps potential (i.e.: Flyfaire
Wines is referring to the low-THC varieties) to provide farming with a
sustainably sourced ingredient for all sorts of uses. Château Maris vineyard, for example, gives
the reasons that hemp doesn’t require any irrigation, any fertilisation, and that
it has rapid root-growth that helps it control soil erosion (a crucial issue for
Australia).
Our
Vigneron, Les Hanel, has often touted the benefits of using hemp in farming to
produce such products as clothes, rope, paper, oil from the seeds, and many
other uses. Given hemps hardy nature and
ability to growth with minimal intervention (e.g.: barely any water, a huge
plus for Australia’s climate) – it could provide Australia with a useful, sustainable,
and eco-friendly alternative to many conventional types of farming production
in use today. This is especially true
given the increasing use of fertilisers, the huge soil erosion problems facing
Australia and the salinity problems just to name a few of the many agriculture
issues facing Aussie farmers today.
Returning back to Château Maris, the hemp bricks that were used were combined with straw and lime to harden them for use in the building (see image below). The surprising thing that is claimed by Château Maris is that a chemical transformation occurs whereby the conversion into limestone carbonate will then capture and sequester carbon dioxide over many years. Essentially, Château Maris’ claim is that the building would consume 97pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) per square metre per annum and would continue to do so for 20-25 years! Wow!
So, a building
that is not only is eco-friendly, but actually sucks up CO2 – this seems like a
dream come true. As we face the epic
task to combat climate change with an increasingly fragile environment and a massive
need for innovation, this is definitely a space to watch…
Source:
Original
article: http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/47729
