The vineyards
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We cultivate the vines using methods designed to bring out the best of each terroir :
- We limit crop yields by carefully managing soil improvements, disbudding and thinning out in spring and in summer if necessary.
- Vineyard work is organized with respect for the natural ecological and biological cycles.
- Vineyard maintenance of each parcel includes successive plowing in summer. A portion of our estate - approximately 1/3 of our youngest vines - has been seeded with grass to further limit vigor.
- Phytosanitary treatments are rationalized with deep respect for our property and its environment.
- We strive for the finest grape maturity by good exposure of the grapes (via leaf management and maximizing the grapes' sun exposure), by harvesting on the best possible dates and by spreading out the picking campaign over several weeks which allows us to take advantage of the different periods of optimal ripeness for each individual parcel.
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Disbudding
In the spring, the vines are carefully disbudded plant by plant, in order to control the load (the number of grapes on each plant), to avoid a buildup of grapes and to limit the amount of leaves.
Certain years, such as 2004, we finish this disbudding by cluster thinning during the summer, but that remains exceptional.
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Soil maintenance
It is essential to encourage the vines to take root deeply in the terroir, thus furthering subtle and aromatic mineral expression. We reduce the risk of dehydration stress which is frequent on our arid slopes. Two different methods are used :
- A part of the vineyard is plowed several times during the summer in order to maintain the structure and biological life of the soil and to cut the surface rootlets. In this way deep root development is encouraged.
- Another part of the vineyard is seeded with grass which competes for space and nutrients on the surface and incites the roots to plunge into the heart of the terroir.
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The Harvest
Our entire vineyard has been harvested by machine for 20 years. First introduced with some hesitation, the results went quickly beyond our expectations and so we continued. The main reason machine harvesting is successful is that it permits us to work with flexibility.
It allows us to harvest each plot without worrying about labor at the optimal time of maturity and to follow the weather conditions closely: harvesting is not done if there is too much moisture in the morning, if the temperature is too high in the evening, and certainly not if it rains. All in all, we work only at the most propitious times, respecting the quality of the grape and its maturity.
