Learning from our past experiences, we approach our work in a pragmatic way and try to evolve our methods by simply observing our environment and using our senses.
Sensitive to the principles of organic and biodynamic farming, we grant nevertheless the most importance to what our forefathers called “Common Sense”.
Vineyards managed in cohesion with a live soil, keeping a natural biodiversity. We work our soils manually (ploughing) and have completely eliminated the use of herbicides and pesticides.
In the beginning of the growth season, we de-bud thoroughly once or sometimes twice, in order to drastically decrease yields and allow for a good distribution of more concentrated grapes on the trellising. The resulting natural aeration limits rot, helping us again eliminate chemical treatments against botrytis. Controlling the yield also has a direct influence on the quality and complexity of the grape… and therefore of the wine!
From the middle of August onwards, we are in the vineyards every week, taking grape samples from every plot of land.
These grapes are pressed and our tasting and analysis of the juice allows us to estimate the ripeness of our grapes. We finalize our harvest dates based on the quality of these tastings.
For our white wines, we press the grapes with their stems for a minimum of 3 hours. Then the juice is put in a stainless steel tank overnight to sit, allowing sediment to fall by natural gravity. The clear juice is then put in oak barrels. The alcoholic fermentation starts when Mother Nature decides, without our influence! Our role consists simply in monitoring the evolution of this fermentation barrel by barrel.
For red wines, our grapes are de-stemmed and then put in stainless steel tanks for 2 to 3 weeks (the exact time again is determined by the wine, and can vary greatly from one vintage to the next!). During this time, the alcoholic fermentation begins on its own, and the naturally white juice from the Pinot Noir grape obtains colour and aromatic complexity by macerating with the red skins. When the fermentation is complete, we press to separate all the liquid from the solid material. The obtained wine is then put in oak barrels for the maturing process.
Through regular tastings we monitor the evolution of each of our wines to decide on the optimal date for bottling. In order to keep all the complexities and aromas of the wine, we bottle without filtration, which explains why you will sometimes find a little natural sediment in our bottles.
We also pay attention to the cycles of the moon, to choose the best moment for ensuring the stability of the wines during bottling.