The Vines - taille à la baguette

At this stage of the year the taillage will be finished and the vines are fully prepared for their year ahead.

The photo shows these vines 'taille à la baguette'. Cut and prepared for their future growth and yeald.




Taillage complete attention is turned to the supporting posts, lines and soil. The lines which the vine will use to support herself are tightened and tension restored.

Posts are replaced if necessary and straightened and the soil either side of the vines feet is turned to oxygenate it.

AOC Saumur - sparkling Saumur Brut wine

Sparkling Saumur Brut wine - created by L'Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) on 31 December 1957 and actualised in 1976, to date its cépage remains a combination of the: Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc & Chardonnay grapes.

This week saw Gérald busy operating the machine which removes the dépôt 'à la volée' , from the bottles of tomorrows Saumur Brut wines.

The Saumur Brut is created by two fermentations, the first in the vat and the second in the bottle. During a period of 12-24 months the bottles are turned quarterly to encourage the dépôt collects in the neck of the bottle.

There are two ways to extract the dépôt: 1) à la volée (very rare) and 2) by freezing the top of the bottle.

Gérald is using the 'à la volée' method. The bottles resting at 180 degrees are placed into the machine.

The machine moves the bottles to 45 degrees, instantly removes their caps and the natural pressure created by the bubbles from fermentation ejects the dépot. Over within moments a cap is immediately replaced on the bottle to secure its contents.