Winemaking
Meticulous. Technical.
In the service of the vine.
Intervening with precision, without ever distorting the raw material. To reveal, to structure, to refine, never to rush.
01 The founding principle
of the wine is made in the vineyard
If the grapes are clean, the vine healthy, the harvest of quality, then winemaking is almost simple. The aim is to intervene with precision, without ever distorting the raw material.
The perfect vintage is the one where the grapes arrive in the vat, ferment naturally, and there is almost nothing to do. It hardly ever happens. But it is the ideal we strive toward.
02 The harvest
Everything is picked by hand, into small crates
The harvest lasts seven to nine days, with around thirty pickers. Everything is picked by hand, into small 17 kg crates. This format preserves the integrity of the bunch and limits juice loss, crushing and oxidation. The grapes spend as little time as possible outside before reaching the vat.
Sorting is done at the cellar, on a table, by a team of four to six people. We remove anything that might harm the purity of the wine: damaged berries, leaves, dry or spoiled matter. Depending on the parcels and the vintage, some of the bunches go in whole, others are destemmed.
The level of sorting is maximal. The more risks we remove at the outset, the less we need to intervene afterward.
03 Vinification
Vinification truly begins the moment the crates arrive in the vat room. Until then, all eyes are on the vine. From that instant, all attention turns to the transformation of grape into wine.
We work with indigenous yeasts, those of the estate, naturally present on the grapes. They take part in the expression of the terroir, in the typicity of the place.
Sulphites are used, but sparingly. The amount depends on the vintage, the quality of the grapes, the evolution of the wine. The aim is a permanent reduction of all inputs.
Monitoring is daily: temperature and density readings, pump-overs, controlled punch-downs so as not to extract hard tannins. Low-pressure pressing. Regular analyses. Nothing is left to chance, and nothing is overworked.
04 The vessels
Stainless steel, then oak
Fermentation takes place in stainless-steel tanks, which allow precise temperature control. This tool directly reduces the need for oenological inputs: to control the temperature is to control the fermentation without having to compensate chemically.
Ageing then takes place in oak barrels. The wood is not there to mask, but to accompany. The micro-oxygenation it provides refines the tannins, develops complexity, and gives the texture that silky, taut quality we look for.
The long ageing
The ageing is long. It is a deliberate choice.
The longer the ageing lasts, the more the wine gains in finesse and complexity. The tannins round out, melt together. The aromatics sharpen. The wine asserts itself. We seek to reveal, to structure and to refine. Not to rush. A wine is ready when it reaches the balance we imagined: finesse, elegance, precise aromatics, integrated tannins. Generally, between one year and eighteen months depending on the cuvée.
Trials and experiments
We experiment. In the vineyard and in the cellar. The first vintage did not allow everything to be put in place. But trials are being carried out, and will continue to be. An estate that does not question itself does not progress.