Healthy berries at the end of August

Harvest in Châteauneuf-du-Pape

First, the 2019 harvest: The weather conditions during the past year have been particularly demanding: the summer has been hot, with several heatwaves. Nevertheless, the precipitation at the end of August helped to unblock the maturities. The vineyard has once again shown us its formidable ability to withstand extreme conditions. Green work (limiting trimming to provide a shade umbrella for clusters), soil maintenance (choosing agricultural approaches according to soils: ploughing in deep soils, grassing in poorer soils, are the technics used to help the vineyard adapt to these extreme conditions. Our plots have in the end suffered little and the maturity has been reached with a surprising alcohol and acidity balance, given the conditions. The plots of Mourvèdres enjoyed the warm temperatures. The result is there: we are very satisfied with the quality of the 2019 vintage, both qualitatively and quantitatively. More, with its aromatic qualities and richness in phenolic compounds, this vintage seems to be extremely promising. Our thoughts on the adaptation of our vineyard to future climate change are showing results. For almost 5 years, despite the weather conditions all specific to each vintage, the consistency in our qualities satisfies us fully.

On the cellar side, the fermentation time is over. The White Châteauneuf and the Viognier have been intoned and continue to age in barrels. As part of our ongoing quest for progress and innovation, we have developed a small cuvée of sulphite free natural wine, combining Syrah and grenache. Even if our addition of sulphites on all our vintages, have always been to a minimum, this unique cuvée is intended to meet the needs of a certain type of demand: the most natural wine approach possible without inputs. This aromatic wine has a very high freshness. This zero-input aspect requires a maximum conservation of 18 months, but is fully in line with an approach that is intended to be close to nature.