IN FRANCE USING CHEMICALS IN VINEYARDS IS NOT A LAUGHING MATTER: AFTER THE GIBOULOT CASE, THE "BIO-VIGNERON" WHO REFUSED TO USE PESTICIDES, FOR THE FIRST TIME A BORDEAUX WINERY HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF PESTICIDE POISONING OF AN EMPLOYEE

In France, the use of chemicals in the vineyards is not a laughing matter. After the Giboulot case, the dissident "bio- vigneron” who became a symbol in the natural wine world, guilty according to the court of Dijon of failing to fulfill his obligation under the law to treat his vines with chemical insecticides in the presence of a dangerous infection of golden Flavescence, and forced to pay a 1.000 euros fine. Now, for the first time a winery, Château Monestier La Tour in Dordogne, in the Bergerac and Saussignac appellation in Bordeaux, has been charged with pesticide poisoning. Guilty "d'une faute inexcusable" of gross negligence for failing to protect an employee, Sylvie S., exposed to pesticides (in particular, Cabrio Top, fungicide used to combat pests such as powdery mildew, downy mildew, excoriosis and black rot) used in the vineyards, in 2007, when she was admitted to hospital with headache, skin irritation and vomiting, symptoms typical of this type of poisoning, and according to the court the owner of the winery could not ignore the risks of exposure.
The battle for the employee has lasted 7 years, and only in 2013 the Court of Appeals of Bordeaux reversed the judgment in favor of the employee, at first rejected by the court of Bordeaux. A hope for justice for other victims, reads "Le Figaro", because the story, according to the employee's lawyer Stéphane Cottineau, "will force employers to be much more vigilant, cautious and respect the rules".