St. Nicolas de Bourgueil ` Le Vau Renou`, Amirault Vignerons

Farming methods : it is important to avoid compacting clay and chalk soil and to prevent erosion of the beautiful hillside terroir. Therefore we have opted to let the natural green cover grow and avoid working the soil as much as possible. At the start of winter, we cover the base of the stock to protect the vines from winter frosts. The aim is to maintain a natural balance to ensure the vine is not suddenly subjected the vagaries of the weather (drought, heavy rain). We also add a small quantity of our own compost which has been prepared from biodynamic ingredients. In the spring, the green cover, which is rich in natural flora, effectively controls the rate of growth of the vine to produce wines which are very true to terroir. We use a mix of plants (meadowsweet, nettle, yarrow, dandelion and horsetail) which we gather ourselves, infuse and spray. This reduces the quantities of “Bordeaux mix” required. We hand-harvest the grapes ourselves, carrying out an initial selection on the vine to ensure only healthy grapes reach our cellars. Vinification : Our aim is to harvest a perfectly healthy grape at optimal maturity. The grapes harvested are stripped and sorted a second time before being fermented using the “vinification intégrale” method (for 50% of the berries harvested). This involves putting 50% of the berries directly into demi-muids (500L oak barrels) and 50% are put in big fermenters. Only natural yeasts found on the plot will start the fermentations