Draught wines: French vineyards rediscover the power of horses

Working horses not only outperform tractors on tricky terrain but provide a natural way to improve health of soil and cropsIt's early morning and the air vibrates with the sound of birds and frogs at the L'Affut wine estate in Sologne, north-central France. Draught horses Urbanie and Bambi are slowly working their way between rows of vines. Carefully guided by their owner, Jean-Pierre Dupont, and his son, they each pull a cultivator that drags up grass growing between the grapevines.Several times a year, Urbanie and Bambi can be seen working at L'Affut, often to the surprise of passersby: working horses can be deemed obsolete, relics of a time before the mid-20th century's mechanisation of farming. Continue reading...