Winemaking Process
The Chardonnay clusters are harvested by hand from late August to early September, and are transported to the winery in refrigerated trucks as cool cargo in small crates. After sorting by hand, the grapes are whole bunch pressed. Only the free-run juice extracted is used in order to emphasize the variety’s elegant and complex characteristics. After natural clarification, the juice begins a slow, lengthy and cold fermentation in a tank. After three days, the wine is transferred for fermentation and aging to French oak barrels made by an outstanding barrel manufacturer in Burgundy, each with a volume of 300 liters.
After alcoholic fermentation is complete, the wine moves on to malolactic fermentation which adds complexity and depth of flavors. The wine continues to age sur lie for 10 months, undergoing bâtonnage (mixing of yeast) in a measured and controlled process to add a complex, rich and intense character to the wine. After bottling, the wine continues to age for one more year in our cellars before being released.