Vine training
Guyot simple pruning with 8 buds. Heavy epamprage and doubling,
trellissing, thinning out of the leaves in front of the rising
sun and clipping. The training of the vine consists in limiting its
vigour to focus the matter.
Some work on the vines is adapted according to changing conditions
throughout the year. In July, there is a green harvest if necessary,
and a second manual thinning out at the level of the bunches
in August to aerate them.
The vines are naturally under grass and the sanitory protection
is rational and considered; the improvements are natural and
balanced. Since 2004, the weed control, as well as the working
of the land, has become more mecanical in order to
limit the addition of chemicals and water shortage in summer.
Wine making process …
The wine making process has been well
thought out and the vinification equipment has been chosen
to remove and make more valuable the somehow exagerated image
of too powerful tannins, associated with traditional Cahors
wines.
The harvest is done by hand for the part of top growth. The
grapes are put down in small crates, then directly conveyed to
the winery. The bunches are thus kept intact and entire, sheltered
from prefermentary oxydations, until destemming and vatting.
During the first 48 hours, maceration temperature is decreased
to 12 to 14 degrees to permit extraction of the most expressive
aromas. Then fermentation starts. The temperature is regulated
at 24 or 28°, depending on the wines. It lasts for 8 to 10
days.
The vinification process varies depending on the elaborated
cuvées: continuing with the maceration for another couple
of days after the end of fermentation to extract tannins necessary
to the future structure and balance of the
wine; or pressing before the end of fermentation to keep the
dominance of intensity and greedy fruitiness.
Extraction of press wine is limited and made under low pressure.
Pumping over can be made with or without treading to water and
immerse the cap softly and regularly, without resorting to release
Ageing is necessary to the wines’blooming and their maximum
expressiveness.
A quantity of wine is kept in wooden barrels (200 and 400 l)
to take advantage of physical characteristics of slow oxygenation
in order to open and make tanins supple; the stay remains
short to limit the olfactive influence of wood which would otherwise
dominate and mask the natural aromatic potential of wine.
In certain years, fining and filtering are adapted to the wines.
Equipment
Thermoregulated stainless steel winery (hot/cold), total capacity
of 803 Hl.
Tronconic or floating cap tanks (103 at 10 Hl)
Stainless steel conveyor and destemmer
Since the harvest
of 2004, a selection of terroirs has given 5 cuvées,
vinified in a specific way:
Le Cotagé
one
variety, one terroir,
The age of some of the patches requires a balanced
cultivation. Vinification and ageing faithfully express the
original style of malbec, a variety appropriate to its land of
cultivation.
Glistening colour,
ample and fleshy wine, fruit and spices, supple tannins.
L’Abreuvoir
one
moment, one spirit,
Thanks to the right choice of terroir and an adapted vinification,
malbec is a variety which is able to express intensity and tonic
fruitiness , perfect for a friendly and unprepared occasion.
Intense colour, frank wine with a fluid taste, greedy
and tonic fruitiness.
Quartier
d’été
Vin
Rosé de Pays du Lot
A cold maceration and
a bleeding reveal subtle fruity aromas and give lightness.
Deep pink, hearty wine, friend of summer pleasures.
Essence
de Cantelauze
one
style, one exception,
The choice of a vine and the selection of a wine, but
also the mastery of maturing and above all, the shaping by time, make
this cuvée a nectar that needs to wait.
Dense and complex, an elegant black wine of natural
distinction
Le
Merlot de Cantelauza
Vin
de Pays du Lot
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