La Sauvageonne Spring 2010 Newsletter

Hello again and welcome to the second La Sauvageonne update.

 

It's been busy winter here at the vineyard with some very strange weather conditions. The photos taken here were taken just 6 weeks apart!

 

 

Snow in this region during winter is uncommon and snow in March is just unheard of. Very strange! Aside from that we had very low winter temperatures which gave the vines a good long period of dormancy to recuperate, and plenty of rain to help re stock depleted reserves.

 

In the vines….the entire winter season is taken up by the pruning of the vines. This huge task which starts in mid November and finishes towards the end of March! is perhaps the most important and skilled jobs in the vineyard. Essentially, when performed on older “formed” vines it involves cutting of last years shoots (now without leaves and woody) to leave the correct number of buds to provide for the following years new shoot growth. On younger vines it also involves the shaping and forming of the permanent parts of the vine.

 

Like many domaines here in the Languedoc, we have various shapes/pruning styles of vines here at La Sauvageonne. Much of our Grenache and Carignan has been pruned in “Gobelet” seen here after pruning:
Theses varieties have shots strong enough to support themselves and stand upright against the wind and so require no trellising system.

 

 

 

 

Most of our vines however benefit from the additional support provided by a trellising system and are pruned in a Bilateral Cordon Royat style seen here before pruning in autumn

 

Many factors are considered, including correct spacing of shoots for good air circulation, number of buds relating to the fertility of the soil on each parcel, wind direction and grape variety. As I appreciate that not everyone who reads this shares my passion for pruning and that a full explanation is perhaps a little long winded for this newsletter, I have placed an interesting (I think!) video link for those who wish to understand in a little more depth.

 

Guide to Pruning Vines

 

 

 

 

In the winery
The 2009 wines are left to rest and settle for the winter until April when they are racked off any lees which have settled and re-tasted many times. As mentioned in an earlier newsletter, the 2009's, it seems, will be exceptional. All barrels are regularly topped up and any “battonage” (lees stirring) is done.
The 2009 Rosé and White have been bottled along with the new 2008 Pica Broca blend and all are available to buy now and are tasting great.

 

Other News
Our Pica Broca 2008 has just this week received a Silver Medal in the prestigious Decanter World Wine awards.
Our wines are now being exported to Australia and are soon to be exported to New Zealand. It seems the new world wine countries are finally starting to understand good wine! (Sorry, couldn't resist).