Work in the vineyard
The work in the vineyard is varied and this diversity makes the winegrower's job more than exciting.
Being a winegrower is a profession that is above all a passion. You have to love nature and listen to it, take care of the earth, get up every morning to walk in the rows of vines to observe and analyze the good health of the vines. You have to deal with the vagaries of the weather, which is both our best friend and our worst enemy. This job is rich in emotion, by what our wines give us back, by their strength, their color, their taste, by the human encounters on the local markets or by the visits to the Domaine, sometimes makes us forget the hard work of the vineyard. Just like work, there are advantages and disadvantages that make us happy, sad, eager to do well, but never questioning our love for our vineyard. From harvest to harvest, from vinification to vinification, we try to question our way of making our wine, from red to sweet white, to pay tribute to our terroir, our protected appellation of origin Côtes de Duras, to implement all that our ancestors taught us about the craft of the vine. The final goal is to offer a quality wine, which resembles us so that you can appreciate at its true value all our work of the vine through our products which flood your glasses.
The work in winter
From mid-December and for about 2 months, work starts again in our vineyards, the leaves have fallen, the woods are ripe and pruning can begin. We will cut the woods that gave the grapes of the year, and we leave only one wood that will give the grapes the following year.
From January to March, then comes the time to drop all the cut wood that we put in the middle of the rows to crush it to bring humus to the ground.
Then we attach the remaining wood to the wire.
The work in spring
From April to May, we remove the lower part of the vine stock mechanically, a machine towed by straps that rub the vine stock and make it fall off.
We manually pass through the head of the vine to thin it out and aerate it.
On the photos: the vine before and after manual pruning.
The work in summer
From June to July, we start a first lifting to support the branches, then a second lifting to be able to hook the lifting wires to maintain the vegetation.
We trim the rows, the mechanical trimmer cuts both sides and the top of the row.
We also carry out a second removal at the foot, we cut the grass every other row, because we let nature do its thing: ladybird, butterflies, bird's nest, small flowers, bees.
In August, we regularly hull the grapes, it is also the time to bottle our wines of the year.
Photos: before and after lifting the vine.
The work in autumn
Here we are in September and October, the grapes are ripe and plot after plot, the harvesting machine harvests the fruit of a whole year's work. At night in the cool of the night, early in the morning and late in the evening, the tractors and skips go back and forth between the plots and the winery.
Vinification: our grapes are harvested mechanically, at the best moment of their maturity.
vinification of white sauvignon
We always start by harvesting the white Sauvignon grapes. Once picked, the grapes and their juice are placed in vats for 12 hours. This is called pellicular maceration. The next day, the clear juice is drawn off, we go into the vat to empty it of all the seeds, and we put them in a marc pump to put them in the press. This method makes it possible to obtain fruity, aromatic wines. Once this juice is pressed, it is left to settle, the impurities settle at the bottom of the tank; the clear juice is drawn off, this is called "débourbage". We start the alcoholic fermentation with temperature control at 17° 18°C. Once this is finished, we rack the wine and mature it on fine lees for six weeks, followed by our oenologist.
vinification of the rosé
Made from Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon; its red grapes are picked up and then put directly into the press. The pressed juice is put into vats so that impurities settle, and the next day, settling, drawing off the clear juice and adding yeast to start the alcoholic fermentation with temperature control at 17° 18°. Once the fermentation is finished, the wine is racked and monitored by our oenologist.
vinification of the sweet white wine
With the Semillon and Sauvignon grape varieties, the grapes are picked and pressed directly. Once the juice is pressed, it is left to settle, the impurities settle to the bottom of the tank; the clear juice is drawn off, this is called "débourbage". We start the alcoholic fermentation with temperature control at 20° 22° C. Once it is finished, we rack the wine and our oenologist follows it.
vinification of the red wine
Our red grape varieties are picked and put into vats directly, juice and berries, we carry out a yeasting to start the alcoholic fermentation. We carry out pumping over with aeration morning and evening, i.e. wetting the marc (juice taken from the bottom of the vat and put back on top). Once this first fermentation is finished, we draw the juice and we return to the tank to empty it of its seeds with the marc pump to put them in the press. Our red wines undergo a second fermentation which is called: Malolactic fermentation, this one is finished, racked regularly throughout the winter and monitored by our oenologist.
Our wines
We put the bottles in Bag in Box on a regular basis, we label our bottles as and when we need them, we are in the vineyards during the 4 seasons, we are also in the office and we deliver to our partner shops. Our wines sont en vente en direct au domaine de la Tuilerie La Breille, sur les marchés locaux, les salons et foires, alors n’hésitez pas à venir to meet us. Vous avez la possibilité de passer par la plateforme pourdebon.com to buy our products online.
DOMAINE DE LA TUILERIE
La Breille
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