Clairette de Die winemaking
The age-old Dioise method
01
Harvesting, reception, pressing and juice clarification
From mid-August to October, we harvest our ripe grapes.
The winegrowers bring us their harvest, which we deposit in the harvest reception docks. The grapes are then destemmed (removal of the herbaceous part of the bunch).
The harvest is then poured into pneumatic presses to extract the must (raw juice).
They are then clarified by static cold settling.

02
Partial fermentation in refrigerated tanks
The clarified juices are brought to a very low temperature (between 0 and -2°C) in refrigerated stainless steel tanks.
Fermentation begins in these vats by the action of yeasts naturally present in the grapes (indigenous yeasts). It is these yeasts that give the wine its terroir character.

03
Blending of wines
The wines are then blended.
It's the art of our oenologist and cellar masters to subtly blend the wines from the different plots and, above all, the two grape varieties: muscat blanc petits grains, which brings aroma, and clairette blanche, which brings freshness and complexity.

04
Pulling and foam
The semi-fermented juice (4-5° alcohol) is filtered, then bottled without the addition of tirage liqueur.
Thanks to the residual sugars and yeast naturally contained in the grapes, fermentation then continues in the bottle, in our refrigerated cellars, for 6 to 12 months.
This ageing period is called "prise de mousse", as the wine becomes naturally effervescent as a result of yeast fermentation. Bottle fermentation stops before the grapes' sugars are exhausted.

05
Discharge and filling
The bottles are transferred to vats.
Then, in order to eliminate the yeast deposit produced by this second part of fermentation, we will carry out isobaric filtration so as not to lose the effervescence acquired during bubbling.
Finally, the bottles are filled without the addition of expedition liqueur.

06
Print and dressing
Immediately after bottling, the bottles are corked, muzzled to contain the effervescence, then labelled and packaged.

Crémant winemaking
The traditional method
01
Harvesting, reception, pressing and filtration
In September and October, the grapes are harvested exclusively by hand, with the utmost care.
The grapes are then poured into presses to extract the juice. We obtain 100 liters of juice for 150 kg of pressed grapes.
They are then clarified by static cold settling.

02
Complete fermentation in tanks and blending
Unlike the ancestral method, fermentation here takes place entirely in refrigerated stainless steel tanks at temperatures ranging from 15 to 18°C.
The result is a dry white wine called vin de base, which we blend as soon as fermentation is complete.

03
Tirage and foam
A second fermentation takes place in the bottle, thanks to the addition of a liqueur de tirage, composed of sugars and yeast. This is the start of the "prise de mousse" in the bottle, which lasts between 12 months and 3 years for ageing on lees. It is during this stage that the wine gains in roundness and the finesse of its bubbles.

04
Towing automated
After maturing on the lees, the yeast deposits from fermentation must be expelled. This is the art of disgorging.
We start this stage by "stirring the bottles" to bring down the yeast deposit in the neck.
Once carried out manually, it is now done automatically using gyropallets.

05
Disgorging and dosage
The neck, containing the yeast and impurities, is frozen in a solution at -20°. When the bottles are opened, the ice cube is expelled by the pressure of the wine.
To fill the resulting void, we add a "liqueur d'expédition" made up of wine and sugar before corking. By adjusting the sugar content of the liqueur, we can produce brut, dry or semi-dry wines.

06
Packaging and packaging
The bottles are then corked, muzzled to contain the effervescence, labelled and packaged.
