The Brighter Cider of Life

Cider, Ardèche 
100% Red Winter

 

The base of this cider is 100% juice of apples, the variety Red Winter. We made a quick direct press the 22nd of October. This first part of the fermentation took place in fiber tanks in our little cellar in Valvignères. But the cider was fermenting very fast and already shortly after it was ready to be bottled and left to finish the fermentation in bottles in matter to create bubbles. It fermented in bottles close to six months until it was to be disgorged the 5th of April 2022. We took out and away the lees and sediments from the fermentation, but instead of topping up with the same cider, we topped up with a 2021 wine of Viognier. The Viognier improves the expression of the acidity, helps to balance the flavors of the apples, make the cider less cider-like and more vinous. We’re very happy for this decision, that gives our cider a brighter, fresher and drier expression than what you normally find in a French cider.

 

I hope everyday

Rosé Pétillant Naturel, Ardèche

45% Syrah 30% Merlot 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and a little bit of Grenache Noir only 5%

 

Assemblage of four different grapes, separately pressed directly. Fermentation in fiberglas cuve. Shortly after harvest was ended, the wine was bottled and left to finish the fermentation in bottles and create bubbles. We made the dégorgement  over a few days during December 2021.

 

 

C’était le premier jour des vacances d’été. J’avais seize ans

Blanc Pétillant Naturel, Ardèche

50 % Chardonnay 30% Viognier 20% Grenache Noir 

 

A blend of Chardonnay, Viognier and the very first juice from a press direct of Grenache Noir. All co-fermented at first in a fiberglass cuve, but not for very long, the wine fermented fast and shortly after the juice was blended it was bottles as well. Once in bottles we left the wine to finish the fermentation and for another year on the lies. We wanted to keep this white sparkling wine on the yeast in bottle for a year, to be able to bring the bitter notes more in place and at the same time have smaller and more delicate bubbles. It means that this pétillant natural has a character more like a Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine, and a less pronounced fruit and sweetness compared to what pétillant naturel normally represents. We made the dégorgement in the end of September 2022.

 

I guess this is what I would have said

Blanc, Ardèche 

Viognier & Chardonnay 

 

The very end of a 10-day long press, starting with Sauvignon, then Chardonnay and finally the Viognier that represents 80% of this wine. The grapes were harvested faster than we could press them, as we do this manually- so we decided simply to add more and new grapes to the pressoir every third/fourth day, without emptying the older and already pressed grapes. The Sauvignon and the first part of the Chardonnay went into another cuvée. The last part of the Chardonnay and all Viognier is what this wine is built of. We aged it in very old barrels, that normally have been used for red wine, so this vinification is the first white in these barrels. The old “red”barrels together with the way we’ve been pressing the grapes gives the wine a bitter tannic structure, not in a macerated or “orange wine” style. It’s very light and delicate and are expressed more as salty notes than notes of maceration and tannins.  

Bad lighting Call you later

Rouge, Ardèche 

100% Merlot


90% press direct and another 10% of grapes destemmed left to macerate in the juice for a month or so.. The wine has spent first one year in a fiberglass cuve, in the spring of 2022 we made a soutirage and transferred the wines to Demi-muid (500lt barrels). Here it finished the fermentation and got rid of both the reduction and mouse the wine have had in the cuve. Now it’s a light red, in the style of the Ploussard that we are all dreaming of..!

 

Once I had a choice of being better

Blanc, Ardèche

40% Chardonnay 60% Sauvignon Blanc

 

Here’s a wine we wanted to bottle already in 2022, but we decided to give another year in barriques – this meant that instead of bottling it young, we waited another year and gave in that way a year more in barriques. This extra time worked well, it gave the wine a slimmer fruit, made the reduction go away and added to the wine a yeasty character like some young sakes. I really like it! 40 % Chardonnay 60% Sauvignon Blanc all pressed direct (together), four days. From the pressoir the juice went directly into barriques it was here it stayed for two years. No soutirage, full fermentation on the lies, no topping up.

Lovers’ dance on caring feet

Rosé, Ardèche 

100% Carignan

 

The absolutely last grapes from the harvest of 2021. Carignan from Jocelyne and Gerald Oustric- Domaine du Mazel- grapes they generously offered us to compensate for our lost harvest in our vines at Valgrand.

We wanted to make a rosé with these grapes, but a rose a little bit of edge. We wanted to macerate and make a kind of rosé de saignée, but because of the hailstorm the grapes was not the most beautiful we’ve seen. Therefor we crunched the grapes, left them to macerate for 6-8 hours in the pressoir, just to do a fast pressing of the juice overnight. It gave us a very interesting rosé juice, with a (for us) new unseen aromatic profile and an unusual long salty finish. Since harvest the wine have been ageing in demi-muid.