09 April 2021

Year after year, winegrowers are noticing an increase in climatic hazards. These are having an aggravating impact on vineyards and wine production. Frost, hail, heatwave are some of the few meteorological disturbances that degrade the harvest quality and quantity. After a severely affected 2007, Jack Frost paid us another visit in spring 2021, damaging the Saint-Émilion vineyards.

Château Roylland has therefore decided to do everything in its power to counterattack these climatic incidents.

We have chosen to install a connected weather station in the vineyard, which measures temperature, rainfall and wind speed. This device is an essential tool for predicting unforeseen weather conditions.

Secondly, we participated with other wine estates in the pooling of anti-hail resources. As a result, a network of 38 semi-automatic anti-hail launchers was scattered throughout the vineyard. This hail defence system stops hail before it falls, thanks to helium-filled rockets and balloons.

Ultimately, it has become essential to think about new ways to fight against frost. This spring, Château Roylland had to light up hay bales in the middle of the vineyard to increase temperature and prevent the harvest from a frosted disaster. Our future project is to invest in an anti-freeze system: frost fans to help circulate the air and keep temperatures around the grapevines from dropping to the freezing point, thus protecting the buds.
So, bye-bye Jack Frost!