At the beginning of winter when the first frosts cause the leaves on the vines to fall, the longest work of the year then begins, pruning, this is precision work that gives the vine its gobelet shape and prepares it to support the grapes as early as the following summer.
Pascal and Nicolas start around November 10 and finish around March 15.
This work consists of removing the buds that grow on the base of the vine that will not produce grapes and draws sap from the plant; this allows the fruit-producing shoot to be more valiant.
Trimming will also facilitate future pruning.
In spring, before the weeds invade the vines, we weed, rebroage (replace dead vines), check the trellising in the Chardonnay.
About thirty years ago, we made the choice not to raise the vines (tie up the vines) to allow better aeration of the vine and thus limit disease outbreaks, when we are faced with a rainy spring and summer.
In mid-June, the cropping work begins, it consists of cutting off the tips of the vine shoots to even out the rows and thus make it easier for the tractor to pass through the vineyard and for the grapes to be harvested.
This is the culmination of a year's work in the vineyards and is a stressful time for the winemaker. The harvest begins as soon as the grapes reach maturity.
On the estate the harvest is done 95% by hand, some of the Chardonnay is picked by machine. The grapes are sorted, and any damaged, or under-ripe grapes are removed.
The harvest is taken to the vat house, where the vinification begins. The grapes are put into vats for alcoholic fermentation and wait between 10 and 15 days before being pressed and put back into vats
pending malolactic fermentation.
This is a rather simplistic explanation, but in reality, wine-making is complex and brings out the olfactory, gustatory and visual senses of the winemaker, who has to be very attentive, taking into account all the parameters to carry out the wine-making of each cuvée successfully.
With respect for the vine and the wine, we have been able to combine tradition and modernity to produce quality wines.
The rouge, rosé, blanc Beaujolais wines, Brouilly, Côte-de-Brouilly and Morgon are matured in resinous concrete vats.
The Brouilly matured in oak barrels is as its name indicates from a blend of 228 Litres oak barrels, with an average age of 7 wines.
The blend is made after tasting all the barrels.
The Brouilly "Cuvée Tane" from our oldest plot (100 years old), is also aged in 228 Litres oak barrels.
Brouilly Millésime is matured in demi muid, a large barrel containing approximately.
