OUR PHILOSOPHY
At a philosophical level, following natural processes allows us to step out of the way and guide the development of the wine instead of thinking of ourselves as the creators. In a sense you are then allowing the wine to make itself. It is more fun, more interesting, and has more meaning.
The phrase “winemaker” is therefore inappropriate and does not even exist in French or Italian, because it implies we are the creators, whereas we are merely the facilitators.
MAKING SLOW WINES
While most people are familiar with the concept of Slow Food, the international movement opposing fast food, few understand what a slow wine is. We do not hurry the wine. Fermentation, which with modern practises would normally take up to 20 days on white wines inoculated with enzymes and using cultured yeasts, can take anything from one month to eleven months with our “hands (nearly) off” approach. We monitor, we do not dictate. |
We follow a minimalist approach in the winery and interfere as little as possible during the winemaking process.
Traditional winemaking methods, including working with open-top fermenters for red wines, allowing wild yeast fermentation to take place, whole-bunch pressing and the use of gravity where possible, are used.
We are convinced that using this approach to winemaking enhances wine quality. For instance, the fact that we prefer whole-bunch pressing means that we do not undertake destemming before fermentation, and this by implication forces our winemaker to be more demanding about fruit quality - attaining that perfect balance between fruit, acidity, tannins and alcohol.
The resulting wine should therefore be a manifestation of what is “normally expected from the grape”, given the specific circumstances of the vintage. |
