Têche is located in the Isère Valley, downstream from Grenoble. It was here, on the route des Signaux, that Achille and Marie-Louise Cony started out in 1930. It was a mixed farm, as was common at the time: several crops, some livestock, a few nut trees.
Those few trees became the main business. André and Aline took over in the seventies, Joël and Danielle in the nineties, and with them, the farm became increasingly focused on nuts. The soil in the valley is well suited to them, and the crop requires knowledge that accumulates over the years. A walnut plantation develops slowly. A tree planted today will not bear a serious crop until the next generation tends it. The family describes their work exactly this way: “cultiver la noix avec patience et transmettre un métier” – to grow walnuts with patience and pass on a trade. Bastien and Vincent joined the family in 2016, and Vincent runs the farm today.
What the AOP requires
The farm is located in the Noix de Grenoble area, which has been protected since the decree of June 17, 1938. It covers 261 municipalities in the Drôme, Isère, and Savoie. Three varieties are approved: Franquette, Parisienne, and Mayette. Each walnut must be at least 28 mm in size, dried walnuts must retain no more than 12 percent moisture, and fresh walnuts must contain at least 20 percent. The harvest date is not fixed in the calendar but is determined by a ripeness test: harvesting can only begin when 80 percent of the nuts in an orchard have a completely brown inner partition, usually in late September. And drying must begin no later than 36 hours after harvest, either naturally on slats or with warm, dry air at a maximum of 30 °C.
These 36 hours explain why everything happens at once on a walnut farm in October. The family puts it this way: “Ramasser régulièrement, puis enchaîner rapidement avec le lavage, le tri et le séchage.” Collect regularly so that the nuts do not lie on the ground for long, then wash, sort, and dry them immediately. How long they are dried depends on how moist the batch is when it arrives.
Everything on the farm
Washing, sorting, drying, grading, and storage all take place in Têche, and the nuts are graded according to their intended use. The kernels, whole or broken, are removed from the shells there, and the batches are inspected once more before shipping. What matters is not the shell, but “la qualité du cerneau à l’intérieur” – the quality of the kernel inside. The farm presses walnut oil from selected nuts and makes vinegar from green walnuts. It also sells fresh Lara walnuts. This variety is not one of the three AOP varieties and is therefore sold as a fresh walnut, not as Noix de Grenoble.
Agriculture raisonnée
The farm does not have an organic label. It operates according to the principles of agriculture raisonnée, and the family sees this less as a set of rules than as a way of thinking: “L’agriculture raisonnée, pour nous, c’est une façon de décider.” Instead of treating the crop according to a fixed plan, they observe, use traps, and only intervene where necessary. After harvest, the wash water is filtered and returned to the system in a closed loop. Rainwater is collected and used to clean the equipment, the wood from pruning can be turned into wood chips for heating, and the farm uses organic fertilizer from livestock in the valley. Water and energy consumption are expressly among the criteria used to make decisions.
What to do with Grenoble walnuts is already outlined in our recipes: the Tarte aux noix with caramel, based on an idea by Laurent Mariotte, and a walnut cake with Armagnac, which is quick to make and can be frozen. If you want something savory: the Winter salad with pear, walnuts, and Erborinato.
The farm sells directly to private customers at the farm and through its online shop, as well as to fruit retailers, delicatessens, bakeries, and market stalls. “Ici, vous parlez à la ferme et aux mains qui produisent les noix” – Here, you are talking to the farm and the hands that produce the walnuts, says its website. That was exactly the reason for us.
