Particular care is given to ageing, which we consider to be the core of our work. This explains why we select our wines as early as possible and bring them together in our own cellar. We do not have any recipe for the ageing and we adapt our choices taking into account the vintage, the appellation and the grapes, with the aim to show drinkable wines shortly after their bottling.
We always prefer large format barrels, and especially the demi muids for a softer micro oxygenation more suited to our southern grapes.
Ageing under wood
Part of the wines, it can go up to 30%, is aged in concrete vat to bring sappy fruit and crispness to the final blend. However, for our Crus, we favour a long ageing of 2 years with this second winter in wood, a key factor for the balance and the tanic structure of the wines. We favour large formats, “foudres” especially in Bandol but also the demi muids, this traditional barrel from South of France, is 600 liters which is nearly three times what a “bordelaise” or a “bourguignonne” barrel can contain. In proportion, less wine is in contact with the wood and the stave thickness, 45mm vs 27mm (or 10 vs 18 inches) on a traditional barrel enables to shape the ideal texture.
