Harddèche
Rouge, Ardèche 2013 50% Carignan 50% Cabernet Sauvignon
Destemmed grapes of Carignan and press direct of Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cabernet was already in fermentation when we mixed it with the Carignan, after the two was together we left it 7-8 days in maceration outside in fibre cuve. Here it stayed, also after décuvage, until the 25th of March 2014 where we made a soutirage and prepared it to be bottled on 25th of June 2014. Of our two first wine this one is the lightest and with its young and vibrant fruit the most drinkable when young. This wine was not made with intension to age for many years, the vinification was made in a way that should create a wine ready to be both bottled and drunk fast. We showed to be wrong, in recent years we’ve been drinking a few of these bottles and even though it held its promise to be ready and drinkable young, it also showed to be age very very well.
Sweet beginning of a better end
Rouge, Ardèche 33% Carignan 33% Grenache Noir 33% Syrah
Together with the cuvée Harddèche, this wine is one the first we ever have made in Ardèche. All grapes were harvested in late September and slowly destemmed by hand as we were bringing the grapes in. Starting with the Syrah, followed by the Grenache Noir and at last the Carignan. This process took us around two weeks, when all grapes where in the cube, we left 10 days outside in fiber cuve for maceration. After maceration, Sweet Beginning of a Better end, was pressed on the old beautiful pressoir en bois of Gérald and Jocelyne Oustric and after that left to ferment and age in our oak foudre until 25th of March 2014. In the spring of 2014, we made a soutirage and prepared the wine for bottling. We made the bottling the 25th of June 2014.
Hellsass
Blanc, Alsace
100% Pinot Gris
The directly pressed juice of Pinot Gris oxidized for 12-16 hours in open cuves and afterwards directly placed in fibre cuve. Here it fermented outside until the 23rd of March 2014, where we made a soutirage and brought the wine into the cellar. From there the fermentation slowed down and we decided therefore to give both of the wines we at that time had in cuves in Alsace some more time and not to bottle Hellsass until December 2014. The time give us the balance we were looking for. Together with Klockkaine is Hellsass ine of the first experiences we had with vinification in Alsace, and at the same time one of two wines from there that we haven’t left to age for years in barrels.
Le Rebloché
Blanc, Alsace
50% Gewürztraminer 50% Pinot Gris
In 2013 we kept a side several barrels to able to follow and see how they’d evolve over time. The idea from the beginning was to bottle these wines after they have had spent shorter or longer time in the barriques. Le Rebloché is a blend of both Gewürztraminer and Pinot Gris, the was pressed separately and left to oxidize for 20 hours in an open cuve and afterward directly into barrique. Here it fermented and oxidized in the cellar, until we bottled it as our first oxidative wine in September 2016.
Klockaine
Blanc, Alsace.
100% Gewürztraminer
After 12-16 hours of oxidation in open cuves, the directly pressed juice of Gewürztraminer was directly filled into fibre cuve. In this cuve it fermented outside until the 23rd of March 2014, at that time we made a soutirage and brought the wine into the cellar. The Gewürztraminer had some problems and needed time to solve this, also the fermentation slowed down after the soutirage and we decided therefore to give both of the wines we at that time had in cuves in Alsace some more time. We bottled for that reason not Klockkaine until December 2014. The time did the wine well, and it was an early lesson for us, that time very often is the solution to the problems we experience in young wines.
Aging a wildflower on the last page of my favourite book
White, Alsace
100% Pinot Gris
The last two barrels of wines from 2013 have made it into bottles. It goes without saying that this wine is filled with emotions. For us these barrels have followed us since the first wines we made and therefore the entire evolution of our little Domaine, but also, for us they’re the very essence of the style of winemaking we have been aiming for since we started.Patience, ripe grapes, respect for the time needed in barrels, the balance that are created over time and the delicateness of oxidation. 100 % Pinot Gris, filled into barrels in the spring of 2014 where it stayed untouched for more than 10 years without any topping up, soutirage or any other things. The rich old fruit, the saltiness and the oxidation dominate this wine. Bottling an old wine like this, is in some way to capture a picture of the 10 years that have pasted. But it’s not a goodbye to these 10 years, it’s a hello to the years to come. It’s from today and onward it becomes interesting to follow this wine and all the small, slow movements it will make it the bottles – Patience is everything in winemaking, and in winedrinking!
La cligne d l’æilBlanc, Alsace.
Blanc, Alsace
100% Pinot Gris
After a long and slow press directe the juice of Pinot gris has been oxidizing around 30 hours in open cuves. From there, when the fermentation has started, we placed it directly into old barriques. In the old barriques the wine were finishing the fermentation and later without any topping up, aging and developing into the oxidative wine it is today – we left this Pinot Gris a little more than 5 ½ years before bottling on the 2nd of May 2019.
Dansons jusqu’au Rêves
Blanc 2013 from Alsace.
100% Pinot Gris. The directly pressed juice has been oxidizing 24-30 hours in open cuves. Afterwards it was placed directly into old barriques, where it fermented until December 2018 – a little more than 5 years. Bottled the 2nd of May 2019.
14,5% alc.