During our spring wine tours we have visited the small and interesting Champagne house Philipponnat. On our visit in early May we saw people working in their prestigious vineyard Clos des Goisses with knapsack sprayers on their backs. Obviously they were doing some kind of treatment. It turned out to be weed control with a natural product called Beloukha, allowed in Europe since 2015.
The active substance in Beloukha is an extract from rapeseed oil. The oil is sprayed on the ground and after a couple of hours the leaves, but not the roots, dry out and die. The product can also be used for épamprage which means removing parasite shoots from the trunk of the vine.
The company behind this product, Jade, has apparently tried to have Beloukha approved for organically certified vineyards too but has not yet succeeded although the product is from rapeseed.
Here’s a fascinating video on how it works:
