Ruffin Yves

50 years ago, Yves Ruffin chose to convert his three hectares situated between Avenay Val d’Or and Tauxières to organic farming. He did so going against the trends of the time, when winegrowers and technicians didn’t take into consider the impact of their agricultural practices on the environment. The future would nevertheless rule in favour of such few pioneers who chose to be different and to stand their ground despite the critics. His son, Thierry, carried on his tradition and contributed to developing alternative cultivation methods. In 2008, his wife, Sylvie, succeeded him and still today continues production with this demanding approach.

Organic farming consists in managing the equilibrium between the ground, the plants, and climate, as opposed to traditional farming, which claims to domesticate the ground and the plants because it cannot control climate. Fertilization is made only with compost. The soil is worked delicately in our northern lands and narrow vineyards (with only a 1.10 m gap). These are naturally covered with grass from late July to mid-April, and afterwards it is mechanically exploited.