Vineyard vandals attack Clot de l’Oum in Roussillon

Languedoc-Roussillon's Clot de l'Oum winery has seen its vineyards vandalised, with damage set to total tens of thousands of euros, according to its owner.

Vines belonging to Clot de l’Oum, in Agly Valley, Languedoc-Roussillon, were cut into pieces during the night of 1 April.

The plots were part of two parcels of old Syrah, 32 years old and 18 years old respectively.

Clot de l’Oum owner Eric Monné told Decanter.com that the damage would cost him €25,000 in lost wine this year, and this figure will increase if the vines cannot grow.

‘This act of vandalism represents 15 to 20% of my turnover. If it happens again, we will not be able to cope, and we will be forced to stop our activities,’ Monné added.

He said it appeared the vandal, or vandals, had wine knowledge.

Those damaged were facing south on gneiss terroir in the middle of the woods 2 kilometres from the nearest village. The cuts were on the upper parts of the vines.

‘The pruning system for these vines was Guyot,’ said Monné.

‘This is a voluntary, premeditated act because those vines are the only plots with this pruning system. With goblet-trained vines, they would have to cut four different places instead of one cut with Guyot.’

This story has moved the world of wine since it was announced on Twitter. ‘I received a lot of support from all over France but none from the CIVR [the Roussillon wine body],’ said Monné.

A police inquiry was underway, but there had been no arrests at the time of writing.

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