The grapes are pressed immediately.
The presses are filled axially.
We use pneumatic presses: a membrane inflates inside to release the juice, which flows by gravity into a vat. Our tanks are located on the floor below (underground winery).
Once the juice has run off, we remove the pomace and hand it over to a distillery.
The juice is then settled between 18 and 24 hours after filling.
We use a mustimeter to check the amount of sugar in the must.
The settled juice is inoculated with Saccharomyces Cerevisae yeasts to initiate alcoholic fermentation (we use indigenous yeasts, i.e. from our terroirs).
The yeasts transform the sugars into alcohol.
During fermentation, the temperature in the vat rises, which can lead to a loss of aromas, so a cooling system is needed to maintain a temperature of 18 to 20°C. Our vats are temperature-controlled.
Once alcoholic fermentation is complete, the juice is transformed into wine (alcohol content 12.5° to 13.5°).
The wines are left to cool naturally.
90% of our wines are aged in stainless steel vats. Only a few special cuvées, including the Grand Cru, are vinified in 350- to 500-liter barrels or amphorae.
All red wines are aged in barrels for 1 to 6 years.
In November, we induce a thermal shock by raising the temperature of the vats to 20°C, which triggers a second fermentation: malolactic fermentation, in which the malic acid in the wine is transformed into lactic acid. Lactic acid stabilizes the wine, allowing it to age longer.
Malolactic fermentation is a slower process, lasting up to 1 month. During this period, we monitor the temperature of the juice on a daily basis, as it gradually transforms into wine.
Fermentation is actually complete when there are less than 3 grams of sugar per litre (dry white wine category).
Then we let the wine clear naturally.
In the middle of winter, we extract the wines to make them thinner: we separate the wine from the lees.
During the first drawing, we degassed the wine (remove a little dissolved CO2 during fermentation) and oxygenated it to allow the aromas to develop.
After 6 months of aging and depending on the appellations, we start to prepare the wines for bottling.
For the first wines bottled we use the cold of winter to stabilize them. The crystals of tartar are precipitated. For longer vintages, the wines stabilize over the year.
We glue our wines with bentonite (clay). We mix the bentonite with the wine in the vat, homogeneously. The bentonite carries the proteins to the bottom of the tank. Proteins must be removed because the excess of protein in wine can create a disorder; protein breakage.
The collage makes the wine clearer.
We do not glue the Pinot Noir.
Three weeks later, we filter the wine which has become thinner. The filtration is carried out using a kieselguhr filter. The wine passes through the filtration soil and clears out. This filtration makes the wine clear: it retains the crystals and the last particles.
8 to 10 days after filtration, we proceed to bottling.
The fermentation is really finished when there are less than 3 grams of wine left, and we work with a state-of-the-art service provider who moves between different Estates with his bottling truck.
The first step is to filter the final wine.
Bottles are rinsed inside the bottling truck before being vacuum-filled with air and then capped.
We use natural cork stoppers, technical stoppers and screw caps according to the demand of our customers.
The wines are packaged in bottles of 75CL, 37.5CL or 150CL.
The first bottlings are of Petit Chablis and Chablis, for which we try to keep a certain freshness and fruit.
We carry out a longer aging for the Premiers Crus and Grand Cru which are bottled in July for part and after the harvest for the other.
For special vintages it can be much longer (Chablis Héritage: 18 months).
The wines are stored in capped bottles in our cellar for about 3 months before marketing.
Finally we proceed to the wrapping of the bottle (labels) in our labeling room. We offer different labels for France and export.
We pack the bottles dressed in boxes of 6 or 12 bottles.