Our
Savoir-faire
Our family has stood the test of time, but it is time that has built our Domaine into what it is today.
These great Loire valley wines are the product of a subtle marriage between technical innovations and time-honoured methods.
“Wine is a teacher of taste; it liberates the spirit and illuminates the intelligence.”
Paul Claudel
WINTER
From the vines...
A seasonal team works until March to ensure all possible preparations are made for the future harvest.
... to the cellar
Once the fermentation process is over, the lees are stirred (putting them back into suspension). The tasting of new wines is going well, and preparations are underway for blending our different vintages.
SPRING
From the vines...
Spring is the start of a new vegetative cycle: the sap rises in the branches and “weeps” through the scars left by pruning. The phases follow one after another: during budburst (growth of the buds from which the branches are born). This is a time to be wary of spring frosts, which can destroy all or part of the future harvest.
... to the cellar
This is the time for blending our vintages, preparing and bottling the new vintage.
SUMMER
From the vines...
Summer smiles down on the vineyard. Work to improve vine quality follows: thinning out the leaves on the rising sun side, removing excess bunches of grapes by vendanges en vert (picking bunches that are still green), etc. After veraison (when the grapes change colour and ripening really starts), the vines stop growing. In August, the time of aoûtement sees the shoots change colour from green to brown.
... to the cellar
This is when the wine is put into bottles and Bag In Box packs, to cover demand over the summer period. It is also the time for preparing the harvesting equipment and vinification cellar to receive our sun-gilded grapes in September.
AUTUMN
From the vines...
Our vines are bathed in autumn colours. The crucial question is to determine the right date for harvesting so that, for each grape variety and parcel, the grapes can be picked at their optimum phenolic and physiological maturity. Obviously, the weather will be one of the most important elements in determining the harvesting date.
... to the cellar
As soon as the harvest begins,things start to fizz down in the cellar with the arrival of the grapes, the pressing, and the start and continuation of the alcoholic fermentations. This is surely the most fascinating but also the most exhausting time of the year… the end of a year’s work.
