Alain Breuille, peach trees among our vines

Alain Breuille, a nurseryman based in Loubens, has devoted his life to safeguarding old varieties of peaches, pavies and nectarines. We visited him in December 2018: this enthusiast had spent some forty years collecting these varieties in his private nursery, and more than a hundred of them were saved thanks to him. A collection of his varieties is now listed in the official catalogue of fruit trees, under the name Collection Alain Breuille.

It all starts with the stone

His method is unusual: he grafts nothing. Everything starts from sowing the stone. The stones spend the winter in moist compost, then move to the greenhouse to germinate. Each seedling produces a new plant, and this genetic diversity allows him to select hardy trees, suited to the soil and climate, able to grow without chemical inputs. His work made us want to experiment with grape seedlings, a long process with uncertain results, but one that questions the place clones and grafting have taken in the vineyard.

Peach trees in our vine rows

We have planted peach trees grown from seed by Alain Breuille within our parcels. Beyond the fruit, these trees bring a complementary plant structure, encourage beneficial wildlife, improve air flow through the plots and enrich soil life. It is one more step in our approach to agroecology in viticulture, alongside biodynamics and the replanting of forgotten Bordeaux grape varieties. His full portrait can be read in the Alain Breuille, a life dedicated to peach trees section.