The production of champagne is a process that requires time and patience. In order for our cuvées to reach their full maturity and reveal all their flavors, they are carefully stored for several months of rest in our cellars.
From harvest to press
The harvest marks the end of a year’s work in our vines. Once they have reached maturity, the grapes are meticulously hand-picked before being transported to the press for the pressing stage, a delicate and crucial step in the production of champagne. Once extracted, the juice, called must, is clarified and then transferred to the vats. It is inside these vats that the first fermentation takes place, the alcoholic fermentation. Yeasts transform the naturally occurring sugar of the grape into alcohol. This is followed by a second fermentation, the malolactic fermentation. It also takes place in the vats and involves the conversion of malic acids into lactic acids through the action of bacteria. This fermentation process aims to reduce the wine’s acidity in a biological way, enhancing its aromas.
Blending: a right balance between grape varieties and harvest years
From harvest to bottling, our wines evolve and mature in our vats. During this long period of several months, we carefully monitor the wine in each vat using a tasting spigot present on each of them to ensure its quality. Before bottling, we evaluate the visual, olfactory, and gustatory characteristics of the wine to create our blend. We exclusively select the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grape varieties for our blends to obtain cuvées with fresh, fruity, voluptuous, floral, with slightly aromas, creating a perfect balance between finesse and power. Once the blending is complete, we proceed to the bottling process, also known as tirage. The champagne bottles are carefully filled and then hermetically sealed using a bidule and a crown cap. They are transported to our cellars for a resting period of several months, where the wine continues its maturation process.
The importance of time
The maturation process, or resting period, of our wines takes place in our cellars. It is inside these cellars, without light and at a constant temperature of 10°C, that our wines will mature for several months. Our non-vintage cuvées benefit from a minimum rest period of 15 months. As for our vintage cuvées, the period is longer: a minimum of 6 years. This time is essential to reveal their entire typicity. During this resting period, the yeast consumes the present sugar to produce carbon dioxide, resulting in the formation of bubbles. Thus, still wines transform into effervescent champagne characterized by its fine and elegant bubbles.
An ancestral savoir-faire
At the end of this resting period, dead yeast forms a sediment. The bottles of our exceptional cuvées are placed on pupitres, upside down, while our other cuvées are tilted into riddling crates. This position allows us to proceed with riddling, a traditional method that involves rotating the bottles a quarter turn to move the sediment towards the neck. During disgorgement, the bottle’s neck is immersed in a refrigerating solution, approximately -30°C, transforming the sediment into ice. In this form, we can expulse it. Before closing the bottles, we perform the dosage, which involves adding a liqueur made of sugar and wine. It characterizes our different cuvées: brut nature, extra brut, brut, or demi-sec. Once the liqueur is added, the bottles are sealed with a cork, playing an essential role in preserving the quality of the wine. A wire cage, muselet, is then secured over the cork to maintain pressure. Then, we process to another resting period. Finally, the last step is the labelling. Each bottle is meticulously labeled. Some of our cuvées require special attention and are still manually labelled. As nature lovers, we prioritize the use of recycled or recyclable materials to label our bottles.
