Perseverance and rebirth – The creation of our first natural cuvées
Our vines, we have pampered them, suckering to the heart, manual harvesting in the early morning to keep the freshness. Small quantity but super quality, with very good sanitary condition.
In line with our desire to make wines as naturally as possible, the three of us decided to make 3 cuvées without any added sulphites, which are also called natural wines. With Guillaume and Yannick, we are committed to reconnecting with the pioneering side of Brau, which was initiated as soon as we took over through the many innovations on our land and in the cellar. Embarking on these creations was certainly not without risk, but Brau already carries in its DNA a hyper reasoned approach to viticulture and winemaking.
Going from a minimum level (20-30 mg / liter) to zero sulfites finally presented little danger. Natural wine then it will be! The manual harvest of 2021, at dawn, allowed us to select the best berries, keeping the fruity side. So here we go for vinification in indigenous yeasts (no recourse to the addition of external yeasts to trigger fermentation, the grape in its raw state does the work)
Once the harvest arrives in the cellar, the berries are scraped and destemmed (we remove the raffle, those green stalks – in our case we felt they would bring bitterness to the wine as we were looking for the fruit) then put into vats .
We will then carry out many delestages (operation which consists of emptying a tank of grapes in maceration of its liquid phase, leaving the solid phase there. The must which flows from the tank is stored in another tank. must is withdrawn from the tank.The marc drips and crushes under its own weight) to extract as much sugar as possible (we crush by gravity). Gentler on the wine than other methods, this allows us to preserve the aromas and the original structure of the wine again and again). For several days in the cellar we carry out pumping over to moisten the cap (solid upper part which forms with the marc).
In total we will have left our berries macerated (period during which the juice is in contact with the skins which release the aromas, the tannic structure and the color), for a maximum of ten days to keep the fruit and the freshness. A longer maceration would have led us to seek out the tannins and the vegetal aromas.
Making a natural wine, that is to say without input, means working without a net.
Sulphite has the effect of neutralizing the development of a wine.
Like a Sushi master, for a natural wine it is necessary to have an exceptional raw material, irreproachable hygienic conditions, and a draconian follow-up (analysis several times a day) of the wines throughout their fermentation.
So yes for weeks, every day, every tasting we asked ourselves THE question of whether we had made the right choice. How will our wines evolve?
Each time, however, a smile on our faces… How crunchy, how delicious this fruit is in the mouth. We decide not to stick our wines.
Fining is a method used by the winegrower to clarify his wine and bring it clarity by incorporating a specific product, usually a protein (we use pea flour for our other cuvées at Brau. This may be for others winegrowers gelatin, casein, albumin, egg white or fish glue, etc. which coagulates in the wine and drags suspended particles to the bottom of the barrel or vat. The fining of wines makes it possible to obtain a limpid, stable, better filterable product, easier to handle One last technical decision remains to be made: filtration
Filtration makes it possible to clarify and stabilize a wine.
The three of us were once again in tune with the fact that we did not want to offer deviant wines, wines with unpleasant smells on the pretext that we were letting Mother Nature take its course.
Our wines are intended to be an expression of the fruit, with as little intervention as possible, just enough so that pleasure remains the key word and that our wines can be stable and constant.
That just what was needed was the filtration.
It is truly for us, after 18 months at the helm of the estate, 18 months of intense work on our soils, on our vines, in the cellar, 18 months of doubts, of questioning ourselves, of clinging to our convictions, the birth of our first vintages.
A painful childbirth with all the hardships we went through (without forgetting the press that let us down on the last day), pushes us to our limits, always with the desire to make a good wine, fresh, fruity and convivial. So yes the first tastings to our restaurant friends, oenologists, wine merchants, winegrowers, we weren’t going far.
Our natural wines have character, are anything but happening everywhere and far, far away from the wines we are used to having on white tablecloths on Sundays. But we quickly understood that the bet was won when at the end of each tasting… (ah to know the rest, I invite you to open a bottle!). To discover the cuvée N°1 Regain nature, it’s here => click
