« If a donkey kicks you...
...don't kick it back »
According to legend, a donkey introduced the practice of pruning to people. The said creature nibbled at a vine much to the horror of the villagers. However, when this vine produced particularly large fruit, the villagers got the idea to start pruning their vines from then on.
A vine expertise…
Before the planting the soil is thoroughly mechanically tilled and row middles are grassed over at all times to limit the use of grass killers (herbicides).
Some side buds and secondary buds are removed to control yields.
Non fruit-bearing branches called “pampres” growing on dead branches are removed to control vine plant vigor.
“Over-leafing” can affect grape quality. Leaf stripping improves air circulation and maximizes sun exposure so that the grapes reach perfect maturity.
Dropping of green (unripe) clusters of grapes from the vine. It is a form of crop thinning to help manage yield and to enable the remaining grape clusters to fully ripen.
Undesired grapes (unripe or rotten grapes) and other material (branches, leaves etc) are eliminated to reduce the yield. Only the best grape raw material for the vinification is kept.
The selected grapes are harvested by hand, stored in small crates (to avoid crushing) and tipped into truck to limit sun and heat exposure. Grapes are stored in a refrigerated truck (3°) during one night.
- … and a wine expertise
After destemming and sorting, the selected grape berries are tipped into vats and kept chilled. "Cold maceration" (temperature between 5 and 10°) is a way to slow down the fermentation to optimize exchanges between skin and juices to bring color and aromas.
The color comes from anthocyan pigments (also called anthocyanins) present in the skin of the grape. Juices are left in contact with the skins regularly.
Alcoholic fermentation consists of the transformation of grape juice into wine. During fermentation, yeasts transform sugars present in the juice into alcohol and carbone dioxide as well as other components making sensory characteristics of wine.
Malolactic fermentation is the conversion of malic acid in the wine to lactic acid. It reduces and ‘softens’ the acidity of the wine. It enables them to stabilize.
