July 11, 2023, Tupungato, Argentina — Intent on becoming carbon neutral by the end of 2023, Argentina’s Domaine Bousquet has become as preoccupied with vineyard composting as it is with fermentation in the winery.
The embrace of carbon dynamic cycles is integral to the winery’s long-term objectives. To that end B Corp, ROC™ certified Domaine Bousquet has recruited compost expert Bruno Follador to help. Former director of the Living Soils project at The Nature Institute in Ghent, NY, Brazilian-born Follador is an internationally renowned biodynamic and farm-scale researcher specializing in compost. In 2015 Follador was named one of 20 leading innovators protecting the planet by Food Tank, U.S.A.
As it works on changing mindsets regarding carbon sequestration, Domaine Bousquet’s vineyard team is introducing local growers to the benefits of developing dynamic and healthier carbon cycles, plus awareness of how managing and guiding the transformation of organic matter is an essential part of agriculture.
Minimizing soil disturbance — the estate has not practiced tillage in well over a year — and encouraging cover crops and native flora are fundamental to development of fertile, living, resilient soils. Good composting increases microbial development and diversification of land, leading to better yeast balance on grapes, more stable fermentations, and reduced interventions.
Domaine Bousquet has also invested in a small flock of ten sheep, a number soon set to expand, to boost the vineyards’ closed cycle of nutrients. These, as well as chickens and ducks, are excellent sources of composting matter.
About Domaine Bousquet
A leading pioneer in the organic wine category, Domaine Bousquet has been a member of B Corp movement since 2022, when it also became the fourth wine estate (and the first outside the U.S.) to earn Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC)™ status. Vineyard plantings in virgin terrain date back to 1997 and have been certified organic from the get-go. The 672-acre property in Gualtallary in Mendoza’s Uco Valley lies at a dizzying altitude of 4,000. Argentina’s largest producer and exporter of certified organic wines, Domaine Bousquet is owned and managed by husband-and-wife team Labid al Ameri and Anne Bousquet.
