Winemaking & Ageing
Louis-Michel Liger-Belair considers that when the grapes are on the sorting table at the entrance to the vat house, 95% of the work is done. The remaining 5% is not a recipe but the application of certain simple principles and a dose of intuition and understanding of each vintage.
At the Domaine we wish to bring in the grapes as soon as possible once they are ripe, and we do not want to harvest a parcel in two days.
The grapes are cut and transported to the vat house in small perforated crates of 14 kilos of grapes, in order to avoid crushing the bunches. The grapes are sorted on arrival in the vat house on a sorting table by a team of 8 sorters and then destemmed in whole or in part, depending on the cuvées and vintages. They are then sent to the vat by belt conveyors. The integrity of the grapes is thus respected since they are never pumped or mixed.
Once in the vat, the grapes are slightly sulphited and cooled to a temperature below 15 degrees, a temperature that will be maintained for a week. This allows an aromatic extraction, essential to the wines of the Domaine. After this week, the fermentation starts naturally in a few days, without the addition of yeast.