Grape varieties |
23% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 72% Merlot |
Soil composition |
At the end of the harvest, it is important to take care of the land in which the vine has just drawn all the elements necessary for its development. For this, two types of fertilizer are spread in the vineyard: soil correction fertilizers whose composition is defined after analysis of the soil maintenance fertilizers to "feed" this land Size When the leaves have fallen or almost fallen (in the second half of November) we attack the size, it is said at home guyot simple that is to say that we leave on each foot a aste (long branch) and a side (small end of branch of 3 to 5 cm of length) which will ensure the aste of the following year. This is the longest operation of the winemaker since it lasts about two months. On each aste, take care to remove one button on two. |
Cultivation system |
Carassonage consists of removing broken stakes or those whose base has been damaged either by soil moisture or by termites and replace them with new stakes. In this operation of carassonnage is included the repair, the retensioning or the change of broken stainless steel wires or abutments (anchoring of the wires in the ground). New Nutrition of the Earth In the spring, there is again a fertilization (called spring fertilizer). This is the same job as at the beginning of the farming year. The coupling The coupling is to replace, with new plants, the vine roots torn off by agricultural implements or dead of diseases. General maintenance of the vineyard Finally during the spring and summer months there is sulphation (about ten per year) to fight against diseases due to fungi or insects, suckering (removal of small shoots at the bottom of the foot but also branches unproductive on all the vegetation) and trimming that controls the growth of the plant. |
Production technique |
Concomitantly there is also work said in small ways: The pulling of the wood after the cutting, and burning of these in suitable wheelbarrows The attachment of the vines to the markers (small stakes that remain five to six years after the planting of the vine) or the wire of the bottom. Folding makes it possible to bend the astes along the lower fixed wire by attaching them to the latter by means of a fastener. Two operations have appeared in recent years, they are leaf stripping and green harvesting. These two operations aim at a better aeration and a regulation of the production inducing a better quality, the sap feeding less bunch, and a better maturity of the vintage. |
Vinification |
The wine - which remains about twelve to eighteen months in barrels - is not inert. In addition to its control by the various analyzes made by the oenologist, several operations take place at the beginning of the vinification, it is the click and the batonnage, then throughout the year, it is the ouillage and racking. |
Ageing |
The first two clicks and sticking are recent operations: the first is sending oxygen in the barrels for a few seconds using a bottle of oxygen and the second is whirling a whip in each barrel always to increase the oxygenation of it. The port, which takes place about every two to three weeks, consists of refilling the barrels after a portion of the wine has evaporated from each barrel. In Cognac, they have a very beautiful expression for this one ... it's the Angels !!! Top of page As for the racking, it takes place every three or four months and consists in emptying the barrel of its contents except for the dregs which will be stored in a container, then by decantation will be purified, a part of this lie will be put in the circuit and the other part will be sent to the distillery which will make brandy, alcohol to be burned or pharmaceutical alcohol. The barrel once empty, will be cleaned with hot water and then sanitized by the burning of a wick of sulfur. It will then be filled again. This allows, in addition to regular cleaning of the barrels, aeration of the wine. |