The vineyard
An ancestral heritage
Milhard family has cultivated its vines for 5 generations with passion, respect and traditions in the Bordeaux Supérieur AOC. Located in the heart of the Grand Saint-Emilionnais region, 10km away from Saint-Emilion in the small village of Petit-Palais-et-Cornemps, this greenery background extends on 10 hectares where you can find the traditional grape varieties of Bordeaux.
Indeed, Merlot and Cabernet Franc are mostly present in the vineyard, surrounded by the forest while the small hectare of Sémillon is hidden between the pond and the pasture nearby.
Biodiversity & Unique “terroir”
Petit-Palais-et-Cornemps, a small village of 750 residents, is one of the last in Gironde to keep the balance between agriculture and nature. You can find a third of vines, a third of forest and a third of pasture.
Indeed, the oceanic climate combine with the clay and sandy soil are perfect for the vines. Thanks to an Organic winegrowing since 1870, the biodiversity has maintained in the vineyard and it is still growing up today. Bees, ladybugs, worms and many other bugs are living between the vine stocks with our friends hares and field mouses. Besides, the Milhard family has preserved a wild and diversity flora in its vineyard. All along the year you can pick lettuce, leek, thyme, mint and other wild herbs. Therefore, in spring, orchids, tulips and Dame de Onze Heures blossom in all the rows in Château Vieux Mougnac.
To preserve this precious environment, the Milhard family has been working its soil the same way for 5 generations : with the horse plowing. This is why, any pesticide has been used in the vineyard. This ancestral method aerates the soil to maintain a natural and fertile biodiversity. This process helps also the roots reaching deeper the nutriments and water that they need. Working this way since 1870 gives to the Château Vieux Mougnac the opportunity to have old vines between 45 and 80 years old.
Winegrowing & Traditions
In the 60’s Yves Milhard, the 3rd generation has decided to keep the family traditions and not follow the globalization of the winegrowing industry.
“There is a skull on the packaging, I don’t want to poison myself or my clients. I would like to passed down a healthy planet to my grandchild.” – Yves Milhard
It is from this philosophy that all the work is done in Château Vieux Mougnac. Most of the winegrowing part is still realized in accordance with the cycle of the moon like the harvest. As Organic winegorwers, Milhard family tries to reduce its impact on the environment with some Biodynamic principles. In order to do that, the vines treatments are mostly prepared with plants : nettle, horsetail, wicker, ect. Today, it allows a reduction of 60% of the cooper treatments and gives a natural protection for the vines. To help the new generation on this way, Château Vieux Mougnac has a partnership with : Biovitis.
This devotion for an environmentally friendly agriculture is becoming more and more difficult in the vineyard. Indeed, climate change has been stronger for the last two years. In 2017, a late frost destroyed the entire harvest and in 2018 a warm and rainy summer brought the Mildiou and devastated 80% of the vines. Despite those weather conditions, the Milhard family keeps fighting for an Organic winegrowing looking for new ideas to improve themselves !
Our commitment for you !
Our family has committed 5 generations ago to produce an authentic wine respectful of the environment and the consumer. We are proud to be labelized “Organic Wine” by Ecocert since 2012 (new european regulation).
Today, it is one of the only certification which grants a wine without any synthesis products and fertilizers from the chemical industry. We can only used contact products against vine diseases as Oïdiuml and Mildiou. Besides, the sulfites are reduced by 60% compared to a normal winegowing.
This logo “AB” is a guarantee for the consumer to have a wine more respectuful of her health and the planet.
