Who would have expected to see plum and apricot trees amid the vines? These plants may be beautiful to look at – and bear delicious fruit – but they are above all part of a winemaking strategy adopted by the entire Château Palmer team, who have planted a thousand trees in three years.
The famous century-old chestnut trees standing triumphantly in front of the château are not the only ones watching over the vines. In less than three years, more than a thousand trees have been planted in the midst of the Palmer plots. This represents around 15 plants per hectare, which have transformed the estate into a vast “mandala garden” where cherries grow alongside grapes and apricots ripen next to cep mushrooms!
Sabrina Pernet, is the woman behind this arboricultural enthusiasm. She insists that vines are sociable plants and that trees are "allies, not competitors." The technical director of Château Palmer adds that "the Bordeaux châteaux once had grazing fields and relied on polyculture, which enabled them to protect their vines against certain diseases." Today, we know that trees encourage biodiversity. "They transform the land into a setting for dialogue, solidarity, and fruitful interactions through a system of roots, mushrooms, and the rhizosphere," she says. A visit to the organic, experimental Bec Hellouin farm in the Eure département and her conversations with botanist Gilles Clément convinced her that this was the way forward.
Of course, Château Palmer is not striving to grow a forest or recreate a Garden of Eden just for sake of it, but rather to bolster subterranean synergies and develop the complexity of the nurturing landscape. Recent agroforestry research tends to confirm the advantages offered by these complantations. Hedges and trees structure and regenerate the soil, trap carbon, support vine resilience, and regulate the climate by blunting heat spikes, draining water, and limiting runoff after heavy rains. They also create an ecological refuge, providing shelter for birds, bats, and insects, who all play a role in caring for the vines.
Trees awaken and stimulate the living world, so long as they are planted and nurtured with science and care. As they say in agroecology, it is important to “control competition.” This means preventing deep roots from sucking up the water needed by the vines, or the canopy from keeping Merlot of grapes in the dark. The approach is an exercise in fine-tuning – finding the right space for the right species. “We planted melliferous hedges such as blackthorn and hazelnut, which are endemic plants that used to grow here,” says Vincent Le Fahler, Château Palmer’s gardener. “We also put in fruit trees depending on the terroir, such as apple trees in clay soil, and cherry and apricot trees in sandy soil.”
The Palmer agroforestry project was launched at the end of 2016, with the planting of the first hundred fruit trees and more than a kilometre of hedges of various species: hazel, bay, hornbeam and rosehips. The project continued in the following years, with the creation of ecological corridors, experimental orchards, dry hedges on the edges of plots and a planting campaign that was conducted at full speed. “In total, we planted 450 trees in 2020, 710 in 2021 (in just three days!), and another 110 in 2022,” says Vincent, still proud of completing such a titanic task. The “scions” (trees less than three years old) have been distributed irregularly to break up the symmetry of the vines and create a tendril shape that can be seen from the sky.
The diversity of species alone is pure poetry, boasting Reinette de Bayeux apple trees, Napoleon cherry trees, Bartlett pear trees, Nancy Mirabelle plum trees, and Bergeron apricot trees – among others! In 2023, the team celebrated the first pear harvest from the Cassena and tasted a promising first selection of Palmer cherries. Others are set to follow, destined for the château’s restaurant and the future winegrowers’ cafeteria, in keeping with the holistic approach championed by Thomas Duroux and Sabrina Pernet. These trees combine ornamental quality, a source of food, and therapeutic virtues for both the soil and the vines. "Willow helps to ward off cryptogamic diseases and oak bark helps to fight mildew, " says Oriane, the vine R&D manager. It is also not uncommon to see Coriolan, the resident chef, walking through the persimmon trees and shadbushes in search of inspiration for the evening meal!
Along with the hedges, plant coverage, and vegetable gardens, the trees are contributing to Château Palmer’s self-sufficiency, reestablishing nature reign, “sowing seeds” in the Margaux landscape, and creating a harmonious setting for tomorrow’s vines.
