A year in the life of a vineyard and winery.
Our family has 18 hectares of vines, olive trees, and fields all kept in an organic tradition. There is always something to do as the seasons change!
Winter
Paul and Isabelle are in charge of pruning the vines in their winter slumber. They follow AOC Corbières standard by using only cordon de Royat and gobelet pruning techniques.
Sarah and Jean-Yves do general upkeep in the vineyards and soil maintenance with organic fertilizer and tractor tilling.
Spring
With spring comes the fear of frost and torrential rains, which can bring mildew and loss of crop.
Isabelle uses the biodynamic practice of following the moon’s cycle to coordinate when and where we should start working during this critical period.
Paul and Jean-Yves are on full alert to start protecting the vines with the tractors using organic products and biodynamic, natural infusions.
Sarah spends her time with wire training the fresh vine shoots and removal of unnecessary vine growth or weeds.
Summer
It is HOT here!
Since we are organic and do not use weed killer, grass maintenance is of the utmost importance. If there is too much competition for water with other plants, our vines suffer too much, but some grass is ok, even helpful. It is all about balance.
Paul uses an intercep, a highly sensitive tractor attachment, which tills the soil between each vine and removes the grass surrounding the base. It is technologic magic!
Fall
Harvest! The best time of the year!
The timing of harvest for each grape varietal determines everything for the future wine, and so it is our most important decision of the year.
We pick our white grapes before sunrise with a high tech harvest machine. Days can start at 3 AM in the morning and finish well after dark. Next we do a selection picking for our Rosé, which we take very seriously, to have the best summer drink possible.
The harvest of our red grapes can span over a month and we share this time with hardworking friends and family that come to help. The work is joyful, stressful and demanding.
The vineyard
Check out our terroir in the heart of the Corbières
The Winery
It is time to honor all the hard work in the vineyards and to make our wine!