Everything that needs to be done to make wine

Vinification
Vinification begins as soon as the harvested grapes arrive in the vats, with alcoholic fermentation.
During this period, the sugar is turned into alcohol under the effect of the yeasts, the temperature increases and carbon dioxide is given off.

“Pumping-over” is carried out at the same time: this involves taking the virtually colourless juice from the bottom of the vat and sending it up to the top of the vat to soak through the “cap”. The cap is formed by the grape skins, which tend to rise to the top of the vat under the effect of the carbon dioxide and float above the must. During this stage, a maximum temperature of 27-28° must be maintained. Above this, the heat destroys the yeasts and could lead to a halt in fermentation.

Fermentation lasts for an average of 8 to 12 days and is followed by a vatting period of one to two weeks, after which the wine is run off, i.e. the solids (skins, pips) are separated from the “free run wine”.

Vinification continues with malolactic fermentation, during which the malic acid is turned into lactic acid. In other words, the wine’s acidity is reduced naturally. These fermentations take place in concrete vats lined with epoxy resin whose food quality is combined with exemplary cleanliness.

Blending
Here we take the vatfuls made from the grape varieties planted on the ‘terroir’ of a Château and blend the free run wines to make a single wine that will bear the name of:

Lanessan for Château Lanessan
Lachesnaye for Château Lachesnaye
Sainte Gemme for Château de Sainte Gemme

The result must be worthy of previous vintages, characteristic of the vintage and of a very high quality to satisfy the tastes of the most demanding consumers. We sometimes have to exclude one or more vats. So this is a real selection process that takes place, and not just a mixing.

Between the harvest and January, a number of tastings take place with the oenologist and the Cellar-master to ensure that our choice is certain and final. In January or February, each Château is blended, and maturing can begin.

Maturing
The term ‘opening out’ would perhaps be more fitting for this new 18-month stage, which takes place in barrels. During this period, the exchanges between the tannins in the wine and the oak, and the exchanges with the air, are essential to the development of complex aromas in each vintage, often close to vanilla, spices, red berries, etc.

A few tasks such as topping-up, racking and fining are carried out during the maturing period to allow the wine to get rid of substances in suspension (deposit, lees,…) and acquire a brilliance and a sparkle worthy of precious stones.
Fining completes the preparation of the wines for bottling, as all the wines that bear the “Delbos-Bouteiller” name are bottled under Domaines Bouteiller’s responsibility.

Bottling
This stage is as important as all the others and involves a number of decisions, such as:

• The choice of date, to avoid fierce heat
• The choice of ‘dry goods’ such as corks. Cork is still the best material for providing a perfect seal, as oxygen must not be allowed to penetrate during storage. A set of specifications has been drawn up to meet our quality objectives and all our suppliers have to follow these.
• From the 2003 vintage we have decided to use an agglomerate cork to guarantee the quality of the wines and eliminate the risk of a “cork taste”.

The label contains a certain amount of information. Some of this is optional, such as the vintage and the grape varieties used, while others are compulsory, such as the appellation, capacity, etc.