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December 22, 2020 :

Château des Sources _ Costières de Nïmes _ Vignobles & Compagnie

A year in the vigneyard : winter pruning

PRUNING AT THE…

November 15, 2020 :

A year in the vineyard: the harvest

THE 2020 VINTAGE…

May 15, 2020 :

A year in the vineyard: ground work

THE GREAT EFFERVESCENCE…

March 6, 2020 :

A year in the vineyard: Pruning

If the vine…

January 2, 2020 :

A year in the vineyard: Dormancy

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY…

September 15, 2019 :

A year in the vineyard: Harvesting period

VENDANGES AND VINIFICATION…

August 27, 2019 :

A year in the vineyard: the maturity

GRAPES MATURITY CHECK:…

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PRUNING AT THE CHÂTEAU DES SOURCES

In winter, the work in the vineyard does not stop! After the harvest and an autumn period spent in the cellar for winemaking, now is the time to set out again to survey the vines for pruning.

The principle of winter pruning

The pruning of the vine is based on the selection of buds also called eyes. Some will not give grapes while others will be very fertile. The most fertile buds are those that appear on one-year-old wood (the one that grew the previous year). We are going to pre-prune first, which will make the pruning itself easier.

Pruning is meticulous work, first of all you have to remove the dead wood and the stems that grow at the base of the old wood. Next, focus on the stems that have grown over the past year. For a perfect size (or almost) our winegrowers cut the stems leaving at least 3 buds (eyes) per stem. It is they who will be the most fertile and who will give grapes. Warning ! If you cut off the entire stalk you won't have a grape. Over the years, the winegrowers will make sure to remove the old wood to make room for new growth.

It’s the experience that speaks volumes...

Pruning is also a point of view, a reflection, a strategy specific to each winegrower according to the yields and the desired quality, of the grape variety and of the terroir.

The Château des Sources vineyard is thus ready to fully enter into winter. The work carried out throughout the year: the reasoned management of the vineyard, the training, the work of the grounds with grassing and charutage, the pruning ... thus make it possible to face the seasons and prepare the following ones, always in research of the best balance between human intervention and letting nature take its course.

A new cycle begins again and we are happy to be able to share this new vintage in the making with you ...

HVE / HAUTE VALEUR ENVIRONNEMENTALE

HVE recognition for a Domain guarantees that the agricultural practices used on an entire farm:

Preserve the natural ecosystem
Minimize pressure on the environment (soil, water, air, landscape, etc.)

This is a rewarding statement, provided for by the rural and maritime fishing code, in the same way as “mountain product” or “farm product”. Thus, it is a voluntary approach that is implemented by farmers to promote their good practices!

As a result, Winerie Vignobles & Compagnie is strongly committed to sustainable development in its vineyard. It uses cultivation methods that are more respectful of the environment and selects suppliers who are also involved in this process. All our wines are committed to sustainable development and HVE approaches, to the delight of our consumers ...

Each at our level we can get involved. Recycling, preservation of natural resources, our consumption habits, every gesture counts.

Implementation of environmental certification?

The CNCE has defined the control plans defining the precise framework allowing the certification of farms for each level of the system. Levels of environmental certification:

level 1: compliance with the environmental requirements of cross-compliance and performance by the farmer of an assessment of the farm with regard to the level 2 benchmark or level 3 indicators
level 2: compliance with a benchmark comprising 16 requirements that are efficient for the environment
level 3: qualified as "High Environmental Value", is based on results indicators relating to biodiversity, phytosanitary strategy, fertilization and irrigation management.

Find out more via the website of the Ministry of Agriculture or the national association for the development of HVE certification.

LA FONT DE SALIGNAN ESTATE

For 25 years, solid links have been forged with Rhone winegrowers.

Thus, VIGNOBLES & COMPAGNIE can now count on 260 hectares of vines in partnership throughout the southern Rhône Valley. From these partnerships are born quality wines reflecting the terroir and the sharing of knowledge and skills. VIGNOBLES & COMPAGNIE resolutely turned towards the southern Rhône, is committed alongside emerging appellations as today with the winemakers of the Cairanne appellation, the latest Crus des Côtes du Rhône in 2016.

New domain to become partner winemaker of our Winery, La Font de Salignan in Cairanne under the leadership of Nicolas Flavien. Old goblets of century-old Grenaches, an exceptional terroir, passion and elbow grease, a domain to be followed alongside Vignobles & Compagnie.

Cairanne, an exceptional terroir

Backing onto the south of a hilly massif that separates the Aygues and Ouvèze valleys, the appellation extends over the sole town of Cairanne in the north-west of Vaucluse. Three large groups share the 1,088 hectares and each participate by their typicity in the elaboration of elegant and complex wines: the Aygues terraces to the west, the Miocene hills to the north, and the garrigue to the south of the village. Cairanne benefits from a dry Mediterranean climate, characterized by a lot of sunshine and a strong influence of the Mistral, which promotes the good health of the vines throughout the year.

Find out more about the Cairanne appellation.

THE 2020 VINTAGE IS UNDERWAY

Extremely early harvest for this 2020 vintage, with the first harvests of our Viogniers at the very end of August. Then in mid-September for our reds ... 2020 therefore never ceases to amaze us.

A complicated year for men, with the international events we know, but also for winegrowers with a nature that has not stopped racing for months. A mild spring, a few welcome rains, a hot summer, an early veraison ... And here we are, harvesting our first grapes at the end of August! An exception that could become a habit if climate change persists for years to come.

The Château des Sources, in the heart of Costières de Nîmes, has therefore not escaped the rule, and it is under a bright sun that the first berries returned to the cellar for the development of this future vintage 2020. To preserve the freshness on the berries, and in the bottle afterwards, we therefore harvest at night the whites but also the reds that will be used for our future rosés (if need be remembered, pink grapes do not exist ;-).

Freshness and fruity are the key words and our teams do not hesitate to get up at dawn to develop gourmet and elegant wines.

The reds: Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, waited a little longer to reach perfect maturity. Our teams closely follow the evolution of the berries to reach alcoholic and phenolic maturity in the right balance, which will allow us to best reveal our terroir.

To do this ? Tasting in the rows for each grape variety, each plot. In situ tests supplemented by more detailed laboratory analyzes. When science and know-how complement each other in a quest for excellence ...

The 2020 vintage is underway ... to be continued!

THE GREAT EFFERVESCENCE OF SPRING

Spring 2020 in the Rhône Valley is more than lenient for an accelerated development of the vegetation. As a result, the men are confined, but the vineyard flourishes under the first rays of the sun and the welcome rains at the beginning of May.

Thus, our teams in the field have continued to be active since the start of confinement. Ground word is indeed time-consuming, but constitutes a good alternative to the use of vineyard inputs while respecting the environment and the values promoted by Vignobles & Compagnie. At the Château des Sources we also use it to remove grass from the plots, but also to improve soil properties.

Soil and vineyard work

To the work of the soil are joined the work of the vine as the suckering. It is the great effervescence of spring, with in places almost 15 days ahead of the season. Our teams take great care of the very young plots of the Domaine, which our four-legged roommates love. In 2019, we planted 1ha25 of Grenache noir to complete the blends of our Château des Sources vintages. Very young plants that need a well ventilated, draining, living soil ...

In the field

The various works on our vineyard in Costières de Nîmes during this spring period are therefore:
Epamprage : horticultural operation consisting in ridding the vines of the twigs (also called vines). This helps to promote the ripening of the fruit branches carrying future grapes.

Hoeing: operation which consists in loosening the surface layer of the soil around the vines with a hoe. An action that promotes the penetration of water into the soil. Evaporation of water from the soil is also limited. In fact, hoeing creates conditions that prevent water from rising to the surface and breaking cracks that appear in the soil when it is very dry. The ridging: an operation that protects the vine stock by bringing soil to the feet.

Ferti-irrigation: a simple process that involves direct supply of nutrients to irrigation water to allow them to be rapidly absorbed by crops.

To be continued...

If the vine were left to itself, without the intervention of the human hand, it would return to its natural state very quickly.
Like a vine, it grows and lengthens so the growth of the wood outweighs the fruiting.

Pruning is therefore an essential step, both in the work of a winegrower and in the life cycle of the vine, for the production of grapes of quantity and quality.

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY

She lived it all this year ...

The too hot, the cold snaps, the hail, the grape harvest under the sun ...
She deserved a little rest our beautiful vine.

It has slowly entered dormancy and will remain there for a few more weeks until warmer temperatures return. Dormance corresponds to the period when the development of the vine is temporarily stopped. The vine naturally reduces its metabolic activity and therefore helps the body to conserve energy. Meanwhile, men may be at work for the crucial size period.

Welcome to the beginnings of the 2020 vintage.

VENDANGES AND VINIFICATION AT CHÂTEAU DES SOURCES

We are mid-September and the weather conditions of recent days are exceptional. The redoux, which has spread throughout the Rhone Valley, has caused a rapid evolution of degrees and accelerated the rate of intake of our grapes in the cellar. The vineyard of Château des Sources has passed the Cape of mid-harvest, but in an orderly way!
We notice an extraordinary diversity of situations in the vineyard. And if the degrees rise quickly, all the reds have not reached their optimum polyphenol. A big work of classification is necessary to separate the wheat from the chaff: blocked and / or charged vines, balanced vines ripening normally ...

The work of the winemaker continues at this crucial time, to identify the best plots for the creation of our wines. Ke knows his terroir, his vineyard, a know-how learned vintage after vintage, and chooses finely the harvesting dates to manage the vines as better as possible.

After the vineyard, go to the winery. While the overall trend is at slightly lower PH than last year, some adjustments are necessary. The work of the oenological team begins to control vat tanks, and follow with finesse the evolution of wines via regular analysis and tastings.
The beginnings of alcoholic fermentations (transformation of sugar into alcohol) are a little chaotic at the beginning of this harvest, a direct result of low levels of nitrogen.

Nevertheless, the first tastings of the whites and the rosés give a glimpse of beautiful aromatic expressions, even if the Chardonnay and the Grenache rosé are still a little shy. Beautiful promises on the first Merlot and Syrah rosés, which express themselves while gluttony on intense nose of fresh strawberry and nectarine.

To be continued...

GRAPES MATURITY CHECK: THE ART OF CHOOSING THE PERFECT DATE FOR HARVESTING.

At the Château des Sources, the ripeness checks of grapes is ongoing as the harvest approaches!
While the Marselan is still at colour break, the white grape varieties will probably be harvested by the end of the week.

The winegrowers are taking place in their starting blocks for the 2019 vintage !

A year in the vigneyard : winter pruning

HVE vineyard

A new partner domain

A year in the vineyard: the harvest

A year in the vineyard: ground work

A year in the vineyard: Pruning

A year in the vineyard: Dormancy

A year in the vineyard: Harvesting period

A year in the vineyard: the maturity

Category Archives: BLOG