There are 412 terraces on our slope, and each one is held up by a wall of stones laid without mortar. Most of them were built between 1850 and 1920. They lean a little more every year.
Why we still do it by hand
A machine cannot reach most of the walls, and concrete would trap the water that the vines need. So every January, when there is nothing else to do in the vines, Joris picks the wall that worries him most.
The stones come down one by one and are laid out on the terrace in the order they came off. Then the wall goes back up, a little straighter, with new drainage behind it.
What it costs
One wall of six metres takes three people about two weeks. It is the most expensive thing we do all year, and the one nobody ever tastes. Without it, there would be no slope to taste.
