The winery
The Chai: made to measure
Red winemaking
The picking date is decided depending on the fruit's aroma, the pH rate, and the tannin levels.
The wines are vinified at lower temperatures, without SO². Physical actions such as reassembly or decanting are limited to extract fewer tannins and focus on the fruitiness.
Nature and Tradition vintages benefit from a 3-day cold maceration to extract fruity aromas and hues. The wines are pressed before the end of fermentation to keep the tannins smooth.
To bring out the finesse in our Colombier, Mirabelle, and Monologue wines, we use a technique called post-fermentation maceration « sur marc ».The wine is matured in 225l and 400ll French oak barrels with a very small amount of SO². The malolactic fermentation doesn't start until the following spring.
All red wines are bottled unfiltered.
White winemaking
The grapes are harvested early in the morning, at the coldest time of the day and depending on their taste and of course their pH. If necessary, the white grapes are then cooled to 5-8°C to preserve their fruity flavour. 15 to 20% are vinified in 3 to 5-year-old French oak barrels, which produces a beautiful blend of complexity. Six different yeasts are used, based on the individual character of each plot of vines.
The wines then remain on sediment (sulfite-free) for 1 to 4 months to allow the aromas to develop.
The Mirabelle cuvée is vinified then aged in 300l barrels and bottled unfiltered.
Vinification of rosé wines
The degree of alcohol and the pH measure indicates the beginning of the grape harvest. The processing and vinification are much the same as for white wines. To keep its pale colour, we make sure that the contact between the juice and the grape is minimal. We only use one type of yeast to bring out the typical red fruit character of our wines.
Vinification of our natural wines
The idea is to encourage the grape's natural expression without the need for added elements. The grapes are hand-picked and macerate in the cold for 3 days. This process resembles that of the Tradition cuvées, but minus the added yeasts, wine-related products, or filtration process, which explains its slight turbidity.
The wines are matured in vats and without wood to conserve their fruity expression, then they're bottled without SO2.