Manual of techniques for sustainable mountain viticulture Josep Lluís Pérez Verdú

MANUAL OF TECHNIQUES FOR SUSTAINABLE MOUNTAIN VITICULTURE 

LIFE-PRIORAT PROJECT

The rights to this publication are the joint property of Fundació Fòrum Ambiental, 

Mas Martinet Assessoraments, Castillo de Perelada and Domaine de Cabasse. 

Explicit rights are granted to totally or partially reproduce the document, provided 

its source is quoted.

Fundació Fòrum Ambiental

Av. Reina Maria Cristina s/n

Pl. Espanya - Fira de Barcelona

Palau de la Metal.lúrgia

08004 Barcelona

Tel. [phone]

Fax [phone]

www.forumambiental.org

[e-mail]

Design: J. Bruguera

© Barcelona, May 2007

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Prologue

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This manual is the result of the PRIORAT project “Making mountain viticulture development compati-

bility with European Landscape Convention objectives” co-funded by the European Union LIFE pro-

gramme and coordinated by Fundació Fòrum Ambiental.

The LIFE PRIORAT project arose in response to the growing sensitivity for the environmental impact of

mountain viticulture. This is particularly the case in successful areas such as Priorat, which is currently

experiencing a real boom in activity. This response is based on the certainty that the prosperity and

economic progress of mountain viticulture cannot be achieved at the cost of the environment. In turn,

the solutions proposed in this manual bear in mind the fact that mountain viticulture cannot cease to

be financially feasible and, therefore, in a context of strong global competition, businesses will be for-

ced to innovate in the way in which the vineyards are operated. 

The endless creativity developed by Mas Martinet Assessoraments over its 15-plus years of experi-

mental work in mountain viticulture has been used as a basis for this project. Thanks to Castillo de

Perelada and Domaine de Cabasse, it was possible to compare the feasibility of such proposals in

other environments, such as the Garbet estate in El Empordà and the Malmont estate in Côtes du

Rhône, whereas the technical coordination and the huge task of disseminating the results of the pro-

ject fell on Fundació Fòrum Ambiental, which took every effort to raise awareness of the challenges of

mountain viticulture to reach all the players involved. The technical coordination was the responsibility

of Dr. Moisés Cohen, a specialist in Climate - Plant - Soil and irrigation information management in pre-

cise agriculture, who objectively assessed the data obtained. 

Furthermore, this project would not have been possible without the close cooperation of the project

advisory committee formed by Professor Fernando Bianchi de Aguiar and Sara Colombera - both

representing Centre de Recherches d’Études et de Valorisation pour la Viticulture de Montagne (CER-

VIM), Professor Arno Simonis from DLR Mosel, Joan Queralt from DARP, Xavier Mateu from Centre de

la Propietat Forestal de Catalunya, Pere Sala from Observatori Català del Paisatge, Josep Maria Milla,

Salustià Alvarez - Chairman of the D.O.Q. Priorat Control Board, Ignacio Orriols - Director of La

Estación de Viticultura y Enología de Galicia and, most particularly, Professor Alvaro Feliu, who was

responsible for producing the manual and without whose devotion this manual would not have been

possible. 

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The techniques presented are the result of fifteen years of experimentation in the Priorat region, with the

end support of the LIFE project, and open the road to sustainable mountain viticulture. The publica-

tion of this Manual merely seeks to share the experience accumulated with others dealing in viticulture

or areas related to it. Professionals may reflect on the different ideas offered and apply those conside-

red appropriate, adapting them to their needs and to the conditioning factors of the land on which they

carry out their activity. This is the true purpose of the Manual. 

Despite this, the research and experimentation work must continue, because current knowledge

remains insufficient to obtain excellence and because sustainability is an evolving process, the final

point of which cannot be precisely defined and, furthermore, changes with the technological, environ-

mental and social-economic environment. Mas Martinet is already working on the scientific consolida-

tion of the main criteria outlined in this Manual and on the development of new ideas. 

Carles Mendieta

Director of Fundació Fòrum Ambiental

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This Manual seeks to describe and assess the most evolved version of the techniques developed by

Mas Martinet, with the support of the Life-Priorat project, to progress towards sustainable mountain

viticulture. The Manual also provides useful knowledge to guide mountain viticulture decision-making.

The technical, environmental and financial aspects of mountain viticulture are covered in a synthetic

and practical manner, although bearing in mind their complex nature. The Manual also seeks to be

informative and, therefore, describes terms and concepts that may be familiar to professionals in the

sector but that will help others, either producers or consumers, with less experience in viticulture

understand their contents.

Mountain viticulture is characterised by the steep natural slopes of the land on which the vines are

planted

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. In addition to this, Mediterranean areas are characterised by a low or medium annual rainfall

(between 400 and 600 mm), although with episodes of very intense rain that often reach 100 mm in

only a few hours and can exceed 200 mm in one or two days. This torrential rain is extremely erosive

and is able to strip tons of soil per hectare. 

Traditionally, Mediterranean mountain viticulture overcame these adverse natural conditions by using

very time-consuming soil retaining techniques involving small dry stone walls, which had no significant

impact on the morphology of the land. Furthermore, these walls made what was then manual work

easier by reducing the slope of each terrace. In other cases, the proprietor lived with the slope and the

erosion, accepting low production stock due to the lack of fertile soil and irregularity of the weather.

These techniques, based on plenty of cheap manpower that offset low productivity, have shaped a

very characteristic landscape over the centuries with a strong personality and balance and upon which

part of the identity of some districts has been built. 

The old vineyards to have remained are now a heritage that must be preserved as much as possible.

However, except in cases with very specific purposes, the financial feasibility of new plantations is no

longer possible using traditional techniques. Growing competition and the globalisation of the wine

markets, together with relatively unfavourable natural conditions for crop mechanisation has forced

1. Introduction

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The experiments developed within the framework of the project have been carried out on land with gradients of between 20%

and 70%. The average gradient of the cultivated land in the Priorat region is 45% (24.2º).

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