The Group’s estates: open-air laboratories
The Group’s estates are conducting large-scale trials of various new techniques in a bid to achieve a smooth transition to agro-ecological practices and fully embody the Rémy Cointreau vision.
Precision viticulture in Cognac..
In Cognac, the Rémy Martin Estates have for several years now been experimenting with natural fertilisation (trialling various types of cover cropping and grassing) and strategies to reduce the need for pesticides. For example, the Biocontrol and Ecosystem Balance project, launched in 2018, studies natural plant protection mechanisms with a view to cutting the Treatment Frequency Index (TFI) by 75%.
A transition in progress on Islay, Barbados and Samos.
Islay began to implement regenerative agricultural processes on its estate in 2021/2022, with the seeding of cover crops to improve soil fertility, drainage and organic matter composition. The distillery rotates its barley crop with other grains and no fewer than 23 different types of legumes, grasses and other graminaceous plants.
In 2018, Mount Gay acquired 134 hectares of land in Barbados to set up its own sugarcane plantation. Consulting with specialist agronomists, it has since then gradually implemented a range of techniques to restore and replenish the soil. The goal is for Estate Mount Gay to be Bonsucro-certified by 2023/2024, and AB-certified by 2025.
In 2017, the House of Metaxa acquired a plot of land on Samos and in 2021, it inaugurated "Liknon" ("cradle" in Greek). Liknon is a multi-faceted project that includes a cellar and guesthouse in addition to the agricultural land. Since 2017, the land has been farmed in a regenerative and organic way, with the goal of being certified by 2023. Over the course of 2021, the House planted 2,000 vines at Liknon, as well as 1,500 bushes and trees native to the Mediterranean.
Partnership with Genesis: a pioneering, innovative approach to measure soil health scientifically
On the back of a successful pilot project involving nine of Rémy Martin’s wine growing partners in 2020, the Rémy Cointreau Group entered into an official partnership with Genesis - the world’s first soil-health rating agency - in 2021. Genesis analyses soil health based on three key indicators: pollution, biodiversity and carbon sequestration.