As nature awakens and the 2014 vintage begins, I wanted to share with you some of the things we do in our vineyards to preserve the delicate balance of an entire ecosystem. Much of our appellation, Costières de Nîmes, still enjoys a rich biodiversity, which is why it was chosen as one of four sites […]
I’d like to introduce you to an occurrence called shattering, an event that happens in the lifecycle of a vine that is often perceived as bad news but can instead be a factor of quality. I made a little video about it a few weeks ago while I was in a young Grenache vineyard (4th […]
A few days ago, while walking a row of our parcel of baby Mourvèdre I couldn’t resist taking this picture. It shows how exceedingly well our September cover crop seeding has taken off. The intelligent use of cover crops not only respects our appellation’s engagement to ensure ecological diversity in our vineyards: the mixture of […]
As you know, alcoholic fermentation is a key step in the genesis of a wine. In addition to the quality of grapes or the selection of the vinification process, the container in which fermentation occurs will play an important role in the development of a wine. Like the musical instruments in an orchestra, the […]
Pruning is a delicate and crucial task for the lives of our vineyards. It determines in great part the evolution of each vine with respect to its growth, health, form, and the quantity and quality of its grapes at harvest. The objective of pruning is to train vines to produce without excess, in order to concentrate the natural sugars and flavors in the summer, and evenly distribute the grapes on the vines so that they can […]
At this period of the summer, each night we come home late at night, we are greeted by families of stone curlews who nest in our olive orchard next to the mourvedre. With their long thin legs, their disproportionately big head and their huge yellow reptilian eyes, they are like no other bird. The only […]
Given my conviction that concrete is the ideal vessel for vinification and storage of our wines, we set out this year to make a major investment in our old winery at Chateau de Nages in Costieres de Nimes. We’ve been at it since early May, struggling to get it in mint working condition in time […]
How can we protect our vineyards from the dreaded vine moth larvae without using insecticides? These larvae can cause significant damage to our grapes and create gateways to disease. To contain the populations of this insect, we use a technique that is approved for organic farming. The fight by “mating disruption” is our answer. In order to be fertilized, the female moths release of sex hormones (or pheromones) that enable males to locate them more […]
I love this period of the year when my winemaking brain is on overdrive, when I project our future plantings, the equipment purchases to come, when I imagine our future vintages. Dreaming is essential, but we have to be careful, because the harsh reality of the world economy can hurt … Since our conversion to […]
To enter our website, you must be of legal drinking age in your country.