Winemaking

In the winery, Jean-Charles’s rule is ‘Keep it simple and Respect what Mother Nature gives us in the vineyard.’ The thinking behind this is that by minimising the impact on the fruit you enhance the expression of the terroir.

The winery has been built on site, so the grapes can be processed as soon as they are picked. The winery was build into the slope between 2 terraces, allowing us to use gravity instead of pumping the must. This reduces the risk of oxidation.

Sauvignon Blanc

70 % of the fruit is whole bunch pressed while the rest is de-stemmed and crushed prior to being pressed. This is to increase the contact of the juice with the skin and uplift the aromas.

The grapes are carefully pressed, at an extraction rate of about 650L/t, to obtain a maximum of juice without getting the harsh flavours. The must is transferred into stainless steel tanks. 24hrs of cold settling allows a racking off the gross lees prior to the start of fermentation. During fermentation, the temperature is controlled between 12 - 15ºC to retain the freshness of the aromas. After fermentation, the wine is left on its fine lees for several months, allowing the wine to gain in concentration, complexity and finesse. At the end of winter, the wine is then prepared for bottling. This process includes protein stabilisation with Bentonite, cold stabilisation and final cross flow filtration.

Pinot Noir

The grapes are de-stemmed but not crushed, and then gravity fed straight into the open fermenters. The grapes are kept at 12ºC for about a week of cold pre-fermentation soak to extract colour and aromas. A fast, warm fermentation follows; about a week at a maximum temperature of 30 - 31ºC. A delicate hand ‘pigeage’ ensures the cap of skins and pips is regularly broken down and immerged into the fermenting juice.

After fermentation, the wine stays for about another week of maceration. Jean-Charles carefully oversees this maceration to ensure the beautiful ruby colour so typical of the traditional Pinot Noir. Finally, the free run wine is drained out. The pressed wine is reincorporated and the wine transferred into French oak barrels. The wine remains in barrels for a year. A good balance of new, 2 and 3 years old barrels are used to ensure an elegant ‘boisé’; in the slightly toasted spices range. Once the wine has been bottled, it is aged for a further few months before being released.