The Wine
The wines of Champagne have the peculiar characteristic of being white wines for the most part made with red grapes. Consequently during the process of extracting the juice the bunches must remain physically intact to avoid the skins transmitting their colour and tannins to the must.There is, therefore, one crucial step in the vinification process that the House entrusts to nobody else : all the grapes that we use are pressed on our own presses, either in Dizy or in Avize.
We use vertical presses, otherwise still known as the ‘traditional’ presses : their configuration reduces to the barest minimum the movement of the bunches during pressing and allows us to obtain juice that is finer, less coloured and perfectly clear. This purity in turn leads to a very gentle sedimentation process at cellar temperature without the need for addition of enzymes.
The musts are fermented either in oak casks or in steel tanks according to the provenance of the grapes. Our casks hold between 20 and 75 hectolitres and can accommodate well over half of our normal harvest. Worthy of note is also our use of some 6 hectolitre barrels, known locally as demi-muids, which enables us to vinify separately selected small vineyards whose production would not fill a cask.These casks and barrels, which are used to produce a controlled oxidisation of the wines during the six to ten months that they spend in wood, do not introduce any oak flavours which might interfere with the specific terroir characteristics of the wines. This controlled oxidisation has the specific purpose of bringing a greater complexity and structure as well as extra vinosity to our wines.
After the alcoholic fermentation, which is followed almost systematically by malolactic fermentation, the wines are aerated but not racked. There follows a period of élevage, during which we carry out bâtonnage, or the stirring of the lees, for the wines vinified in cask or demi-muid. This practice, which enhances the body and aromatic complexity of the wine, also has a natural stabilising and anti-oxidant effect, thereby considerably reducing the need for sulphur. Once complete, the wines then undergo a period of rest during which the cold winter weather will allow a natural clarification of the wine. No filtration takes place before bottling and this applies to every single wine of the House.
During the élevage several tasting sessions are held by a committee under the direction of Laurent Chiquet to make a detailed evaluation of the potential of the wines of that year. It is, above all, at this point that the decision is taken whether or not to produce one or more vintage cuvées. Our strict demands in terms of quality dictate that this will only happen in truly great years. The final tastings, during which the assemblages are completed, are held just prior to bottling.
