The Poncétys estate, a long history .

The estate was created in the 17^th  century by a great noble family of the Mâconnais . This property was handed down to the Bishopric of AUTUN in 1857 because there were no heirs to it . At the beginning of the 20^th  century, the church and the state's properties became independent from one another, making the Saône et Loire county the owner of the estate. The creation of the Lycée Viticole of MACON DAVAYE on the Poncétys site was thus allowed at the beginning of the sixties.

The Poncétys estate, soil, women and men ...

The estate is located at the southern end of Burgundy, at the junction of three bigs areas (Burgundy, Bresse and Beaujolais) deeply-rooted in history and endowed with a world famous heritage in terms of culture, food and tourist attractions. See the access map. Davayé is a village of wine-growers. It lies at the heart of the cru SAINT VERAN,  next to the prehistorical site of Solutré, in a hilly landscape covered  with vines where fresh and lively colours change with seasons. A place where dream becomes reality, where ancient traditions keep on living through wine.

The Poncétys estate has 3 goals today :

    To be a true a normal size, economically viable production unit, complying with the laws of the market.

     To be a teaching tool, used both in the training of adults and young pupils.

• To be a place where experiment and quality production are favoured, meeting the demands of local wine-farmers and collaborating with the local research and development organisms.

Our producing approach

Our methods have been in keeping with both sustainable and socio-economical concerns for a long time.

Sustainability is a notion which appeared in 1992 at the Rio conference.  Its purpose is to ensure future generations with the transmission of a common heritage, which is as viable as possible.

This notion has become our major driving force. The principles of environment preservation, economical performance and concern for social cohesion are all integrated in the act of production.

Sustainabality is:

Ecological

Economical

Social

Our production approach and all our working methods strive to take these three aspects into account and give them equal importance. Our production is reasonable and rational. The  most important  aspect of our approach is traceability. All the steps of our production are registered and allow us to control making-process and achieve an optimal management of co-products and waste products.

Soil, water and their components are our first raw material, without them nothing would be possible.

Our growing method, also known as "alternative", leads us to implement several techniques of soil upkeep which change every 3 or 4 years on each plot of vine.

These techniques are:

Soil ploughing

Controlled natural crop-covering

Total crop-covering

Weeding

These techniques allow us to set up environment-friendly solutions while maintaining production costs. 

 The Vine Protection

The Vine protection against pests and diseases is essential to ensure a healthy harvest and the making of quality wine. Unhealthy grapes favor the appearance of aromatic faults and bad tastes in the wine. We have chosen to commit ourselves to Rational Pest Management programs for a few years now. These programs, based on health checks of the vine, counting, weather forecasts and statistic models established from previous years, allow us to intervene only in cases of major risks of diseases and pests and to choose the most suited product.

Products

The products we use are chosen according to several criteria:
Marketing approval systematically provided by the maker
Certified approval for the treatment to apply
Biodegradable potential
Absence of residue in the wine
Respect for the ecosystem

For example, in the case of grape worms, we have chosen a "soft" technique using synthetic pheromones that inhibit the reproduction of carrier insects.