White Fermenting in Tank and Barrel
October 8th 2008, by GQ
While we prepare for harvesting the majority of the red, we’re busy in the chai with vinifying the white wine. Now that all the grapes have been pressed and the juice has settled, we’ve kicked off the fermentation. The old semillon from Les Trois Hectares has gone into French oak barrels, whereas most of the sauvignon blanc is fermenting in a chilled stainless steel tank. We’ve also got some sauvignon blanc in barrels too.
Caterers in for the Weekend
October 7th 2008, by GQ
We took a break from the harvest by entertaining a team from Charlton House, the caterers, who were staying with us for the weekend in the chateau and in the farmhouse. Dinner at the chateau on friday night was followed by a tour of Bordeaux vineyards on saturday, with a full-on evening out at La Tupina, Bordeaux’s best known restaurant. The wine list there is on the pricey side, and we wanted to drink wine from vineyards we’d visited, so we asked them politely if we could bring a bottle or two. They agreed and the bottle or two expanded to four magnums, but they didn’t seem to mind.
Making White: Don’t Try This at Home
October 1st 2008, by GQ
I’m glad the Inspecteur du Travail wasn’t here yesterday morning. I’m not sure he would have appreciated the children being around so much dangerous kit.
We have now finished harvesting the white. How we make it is pretty straightforward but there’s lots to be done. Most of the work has taken place in the vineyard, including cutting out, by hand, any bunches that are tainted by rot, but attention to detail is needed now at every stage.
White: Grateful for Small Merci’s
September 30th 2008, by GQ
It’s the latest harvest for the sauvignon blanc that I can recall, although we did start with that parcel of early-maturing young vines - the plot we now call Dagueneau - on 17th September. The fruit is in lovely condition, and we’re able to machine pick it early in the morning as we have ditched any rot damaged bunches by hand. The fine weather over the last last fortnight has given us the chance to pass by every single white vine to check for rot. Not one of our neighbours is anywhere near as anal.