The entire growing and winemaking process is based around the expression of the terroir
from which the grapes have come and this is best done with the minimum of
intervention, addition or manipulation. All decisions are based upon taste, not
figures, and the experience of many vintages. All grapes are hand harvested in
40kg containers, to avoid crushing.
The whites are is harvested cool in
the early morning, with the lightly crushed, whole bunches direct-pressed with
no extended skin contact. The musts are cool-fermented on fine lees in tank,
using indigenous yeasts.
Reds are generally destemmed, and fermented in tank, using only the indigenous yeasts found on the grape skins. Extraction is by pigeage or punching down,
or infusion (submerging the skins more or less vigourously in the juice below),
or by pumpovers which wet the cap of skins. The wines undergo macerations of
between 15-30 days in general depending on the fruit. Small, single-parcel or
single soil-type fermentations are often carried out in small tanks
or open 400litre barrel. All wines are basket-pressed to give results of the
highest quality, with press juice reincorporated with the free-run juice
Certain cuvées are partly or wholly aged in barrel (3-10 wines old, and 228 -
600 litre), to allow a slow integration of the flavours and aromas in the wine,
gaining complexity and completeness without hiding its identity and origins.
Filtering before bottling is kept to a minimum to preserve the integrity of
the wine, whilst ensuring its stability and aging potential. Bottled wines are
stored in temperature-controlled premises. For details about the wines of the
domaine, please click on wines above.