The grapes were hand-picked in the early morning, force-cooled to 4 °C, bunch-sorted, destemmed, berry-sorted and gently crushed into a satellite tank. Then they were deposited in both open and closed fermenters. The must was dejuiced by 8 to 12% depending on the vineyard. It was given a cold soak of 4 to 5 days at 8 °C with a CO2 blanket, after which it was heated to 18 °C and inoculated with BM45 and D254 yeast. The fermenting grapes were pumped over once daily during cold soak and twice daily during fermentation in
conjunction with three manual punch-downs. This was adjusted to each cultivar and vineyards’ individual characteristics. The Malbec, Petit Verdot and Merlot were pressed between 0 and -1 °B and finished fermentation in barrels. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc were given extended maceration after fermentation. Total time on the skins varies from 10 to 28 days. The wines were pressed into 38% new and 62% secondfill 300 liter Allier French oak barrels. The press fraction was separated. Malolactic bacteria were inoculated and malolactic fermentation was completed in the barrels. The wines were given a low sulphur dose and left on the gross lees for 11 months, after which they were racked, blended and returned to barrel. After a total of 20 months in barrel the wine was
racked and filtered through a coarse sheet filter. Bottling was done with a fine sheet filtration.