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Where the past meets the future


 

To say that Château Lamothe-Bergeron has deep roots in Bordeaux is an understatement. The 1898 edition of the Féret wine guide describes how the estate’s 14th-century owner sold 10 vintages of his wine to pay ransom to the occupying English forces, who apparently held his wines in high esteem. In 1932, it was included in the first Cru Bourgeois classification, and its stately blue-slate-roofed château transports visitors straight back to the 19th century.


But behind all this historic grandeur is a modern winery that doesn’t shy away from change. “While rooted in the past,” says general manager Charles Lemoine, “we constantly adapt to today’s challenges, especially in terms of sustainability.” The winery has been farming sustainably since 2008 and has been at the highest level of HVE (High Environmental Value) certification since 2018. “To achieve HVE certification,” says Lemoine, “we implemented measures focusing on biodiversity conservation, flora protection, and responsible management of fertilizers and water. Practices like dry farming helped us reduce water usage. We are adapting to climate change by evolving pruning techniques and upgrading drainage systems to encourage deeper root growth.





“One challenge of a historic estate,” Lemoine continues, “is modernizing old infrastructures while preserving their character. We’ve addressed this by investing in new facilities, such as a modern white wine cellar and updates to our red wine cellar to incorporate gentler winemaking techniques and amphorae.”

All this hard work ensures that Château Lamothe- Bergeron will continue their long tradition of making wines worth their weight in gold.



Sustainable from start to finish

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The sustainability ventures at McManis Family Vineyards encompass the entire winemaking process from the vineyard to the bottle.

“We are a complete vertically integrated operation,” says Dirk Heuvel, VP of vineyard management at McManis. “From the time that grapevine gets planted in the ground until that bottle rolls off the bottling line, we control 100% of that process. We are 100% estate-grown, so we source all our own grapes … We’re family-owned and -operated, and we’re doing it all 100% certified sustainable.”

All McManis’s vineyards are certified sustainable through the Lodi Rules Sustainable Winegrowing Program since 2011, and their winery became Certified California Sustainable in 2018.

 




Unsurprisingly for a California grower, water conservation is top of mind. McManis uses drip irrigation, soil moisture sensors, and aerial imagery to ensure maximum efficiency. A state-of-the-art processing system recycles wastewater, and “we capture every drop of rainwater that falls onto the winery property,” says Heuvel. As a result, “we utilize about 0.75 gallons of water to make a gallon of wine. The typical use is about 3-6 gallons … We conserve enough water in a year to supply over 200 houses.”

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Since 2010, McManis has installed over 1,300 solar panels in their vineyards.


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Dirk Heuvel.


McManis has bottled their wines onsite since 2015 and has recently converted to lightweight glass. “A big push for us to switch over was the LCBO,” says Heuvel. “We knew that that was the future, so rather than just sending lightweight glass to Ontario, we converted our entire operation … When you look at the scale of our operation, it becomes a significant impact of greenhouse gas reduction just by switching over to lightweight glass.”

It takes a lot of work to get here, but for McManis, the effort is worth it. “Being a fifth-generation farming operation,” says Heuvel, “it’s important to us to be able to pass this down to our kids also ... That’s one thing that sustainability is; that we can continue farming in the fashion that we’re farming in for generations to come.”





At LCBO, we’re focused on building a more sustainable future through our Spirit of Sustainability initiative, which celebrates trade partners who work to promote diversity and inclusion, community investment and sound environmental practices. Learn more at LCBO.com/sustainability.




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