Winemaking
Our red wines
Grapes are harvested at the optimum time following our plot selection. The fruits are crushed, destemmed, and send in one of our traditional concrete tank. The alcoholic fermentation is followed by daily checking of temperature and density, and also by tasting. Pumping over is done once or twice a day so as to delicately extract the anthocyanins and tannins from the grapes, which give the structure and color to the wine.
Regular tasting during the post fermentation maceration allows us to determine the best time to de-vat. The free-run wine is drawn off; the marc is de-vatted and then pressed. Then, malolactic fermentation starts naturally. It’s now time for blending: we look for the very best alchemy between the different wine varieties to obtain the nicest cuvées possible. Our top Lirac and Côtes du Rhone wines are put in barrels of 300L, where they age over one year; the other wines will age 5 to 12 months in traditional tanks. All our wines are bottled here, at our winery.
Our white & rosé wines
For our white and rosé wines, the grapes are pressed in the morning to keep their freshness. Each grape varietal is harvested separately at its optimum time. A cold pre-fermentation maceration completes the process for our Lirac and Tavel wines. Racking is done 24 hours later, then, the must is fermented at low temperature (15°c approx°).
Fermentation lasts over 10 days, allowing the wine to express its full aromatic potential. Blending between the different grape varietals is done before winter. The Lirac blanc cuvée is partly fermented and aged in oak barrels. All our wine white and rosé are bottled before spring here at the winery.