winemaking
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.
The white is harvested cool in the early morning, and direct-pressed with no extended skin contact. The musts are cold-settled before being cool-fermented using natural yeasts. A small amount is fermented in barrel.
Reds are generally destemmed, and fermented in tank, using only the indigenous wild yeasts found on the grape skins. Extraction is almost exclusively by pigeage or punching down, (to submerge the skins in the juice), by foot in time-honoured tradition, for some wines. The wines undergo long post-fermentation macerations of up to 45 days depending on the fruit. Small, single-parcel or single rock-type fermentations are often carried out in small tank or open 400litre barrel, and manually basket-pressed to give results of the highest quality.
Most cuvées are partly aged in barrel (3-6 wines old), to allow a slow integration of the flavours and aromas, gaining complexity and completeness in the wine without hiding its identity. For this, specific barrel-makers are selected for particular grape varieties or blends.
Fining and filtering before bottling are 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.