Harvest dates vary by vintage and we adapt our harvest plan down to the plot or even to the parcel based on the optimum ripeness of the berries. Our team determine when to harvest through a combination of several physiological and subjective criteria, and even tasting berries by mouth is an important step in the decision-making process. Our team select which parcel block to pick by-hand in two or three passes only the night before.
After a meticulous selection process on the vines and in the winery, the sorted the grapes are directly filled into barrels for a vinification intégrale for the entire production. Our team is always present at the opening and closing of barrels by our cooper partners for better quality control. The new barrels or 1-year-old barrels used for fermentation are assembled from staves of French oak from the forests of Tronçais and Jupilles dried for 48 months and lightly toasted.
Once in barrel, the berries go through a cold pre-fermentation maceration.
After a few days the fermentation begins. Optimal temperature control (from 10 to 30°C) facilitates the extraction and fermentation process. During the alcoholic fermentation, the pigeages and the rotation of the barrels several times a day are our only means for precise, slow and gentle extraction.
Ageing starts with the malolactic fermentations in the same barrels.
The lees allow us to work under reducing conditions during the ageing period varying from 18 to 36 months.
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