Grapes are handpicked into trays and taken to the winery where bunches are checked and fed into the destemmer. Destemmed and transferred to 1.8 Tonne Insulated vat and chilled to about 8 degrees for 3 days with occasional plunging under CO2. This cold maceration is beneficial for color and encourages retention of the finer, delicate fruit flavour in the wine.
the insulation is removed and the vat is moved into the sun to warm up. As the temperature rises wild yeast strains present on the skins and endemic to the winery start to be active and usually after a day bubbling can be seen on the sunny side of the vat as these yeast cells begin fermenting and multiplying. Gentle plunge once or twice per day.
By Now there is rampant fermentation and this CO2 bubbling pushes skins up to make a thick cap on the surface of the vat. It is Physical work to gently push this cap down into the liquid every day to keep the skins material moist and take tannins, phenolics, color from them. We add an organic yeast hull extract that provides a another natural source of nitrogen and minerals needed for a clean good smelling ferment.
When Ferment is finished the cap sinks into the young wine, we add gas cover and seal the lid airtight for an extended maceration on skins and seeds. When tannin and phenolics taste right we drain the vat to a tank and dig out the skins into a press, pressing into the tank. Settled overnight then racked to barrel to go through Malolactic ferment converting the harsh apple-like Malic acid to the softer lactic acid.
It is the yeast autolysis that protects our wine Not Chemicals! The yeast cell walls degrade adding further character, body and resilience to the wine and even as they die continue to gobble up available Oxygen protecting the wine from oxidation.
The wine is usually stable by the following mid summer, has ceased bubbling, we no longer stir but wait for it to settle bright. It is then racked off the lees under CO2 cover, straight to bottling. Pure wine without filtration or additions. Its alive!
We take care of our equipment to make sure nothing affects our wine quality.