Our work expresses itself on two levels : in the vine and in the winery. Everyday we are in the vines, whether its windy, snowy or rainy. Particularly careful and attentive to nature, we are very reactive when necessary but intervene only if absolutely essential to the well-being of the vine.
We follow the moon calendar in the respect for our ancestors methods everyone call "biodynamics" today. Only some operation like the ploughing or the watering of young plants are mechanised, the rest is strictly manual.
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From December to march, the pruning is a primordial step of the vineyard work. It is the longest but the most interesting, pruning allows us to control the vine and the yields of the year. The cut vine twigs will be pulled and shredded to provide natural compost throughout the year.
At the end of April / beginning of May just after the breaking-in comes this essential operation in the control of the yields and the preparation of the next-year pruning. It consist on taking off the unwanted buds and so aerating the vegetation (prophylactic method) and choosing the number of grapes per vine.
At the end of May, the vine grows very fast ! But the young branches are very fragile and must be protected : a violent wind could destroy the harvest. This operation, repeated 3 times, consists on keeping the twigs vertical thanks to a system of trellising. The blooming happens at the same time, a major event because it gives the date of the harvest a 100 days later but more importantly the quantity of grape !
Quite simple, the leaf stripping consists on taking off the leaves from the fruit-bearing area in order to aerate the grapes and facilitate the synthesis of polyphenols (tannins, anthocyanins). In addition to improving the sanitary state of the harvest, leaf removal will increase the fruity notes and reduce the vegetal aromas, resulting in more pleasant wines to drink.
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After August 15, only one word is on the mouth of every winemaker : the harvest ! Taking in account the weather, the sanitary state of the grapes and the maturity differences between parcels, organising this operation is a real headache. Generally at the end of august – beginning of September, they last 10 days : short but intense ! To not damage the grapes, this work is done exclusively by hand.
On the other hand, we try to bring a more modern approach in our winery. Both the winemaking process and the techniques we use have the same goal : allow the grape and the terroir to fully express itself. First off, the cold maceration will develop the primal aromas (fruity notes coming from the grape) and then the yeasts naturally present on the grape skin will start the alcoholic fermentation. We never use exogenous yeasts because they have a tendency to change the aromas of the wine and mask the taste of the terroir. Also, for some years now, we no longer do treading but only pumping over for a more gentle extraction.
The wines are raised on fine lees in French oak casks : between 12 months or the generic wines up to 24 for our Grand crus ; the proportion of new oak varying respectfully from 15 to 50 %, otherwise in wood of one or two years. Depending on the turbidity of the wine, we do a light filtration and finally bottle it on a favourable lunar day : fruit in descending moon.
