#slib2018

[ajojedapons]

Day three: Our second stop was to #Chateau #Fonbadet where the bubbly Pascale Peyronie took us on an insightful tour of the winery facilities at @chateaufonbadet before a terrific lunch. From this 20 ha Estate in Pauillac, next to some renowned Châteaus, sharing the same #Terroir. The 90 hL cement vats will be replaced with smaller 40 hL in the future. Michel Rolland has been consulting winemaker with them since 2015. The old vertical press from the 1920s is still in use. This property has also revive the old Chateau Pauillac, making the wines using “vinification intégral,” where the whole winemaking process happens inside the barrel (berries, alcoholic fermentation, pressing, Élevage, etc!) #sommlife #keeponpouring #slib2018 #allezlessomms (at Château FONBADET)

[ajojedapons]

Students learn to make barrels by hand using no machinery but the ancient methods. #fascinating #sommlife #keeponpouring #SLIB2018 #allezlessomms (at Beychac-Et-Caillau, Aquitaine, France)

[ajojedapons]

The process continues, the bunghole is cut and the barrels are pumped with pressurized air to check for faults in the staves, if there are air leaks the faulty staves are replaced, the barrels then get sanded down and polished. #sommlife #keeponpouring #SLIB2018 #AllezLesSomms @wsetglobal (at Beychac-Et-Caillau, Aquitaine, France)

[ajojedapons]

Day two/ part 5: the barrels get heated and are sprayed with water to make the staves malleable to make it easier to shape, they are bent to their shape, they get toasted and sanded and the groove for the end parts is cut, then with a dough of buckwheat flour the ends are fitted. #sommlife #keeponpouring #SLIB2018 #allezlessomms @wsetglobal (at Beychac-Et-Caillau, Aquitaine, France)

[ajojedapons]

Day 2/part 3: there is an incredible amount of hard manual labor in the production of #barrels, in a supremely noisy environment. After the staves have been sorted, trimmed and sanded, they get assembled in the first stage of becoming #barrels #sommlife #keeponpouring #SLIB2018 #AllezLesSomms (at Beychac-Et-Caillau, Aquitaine, France)

[ajojedapons]

We took a tour of the facilities built in 1964, now remodeled at @chateaudecerons , a view of the Grape receiving area and the below small cement/concrete tanks (thermal inertia) temperature-controlled mechanically by hand, No electronics. And the stainless steel tanks for the whites. With the same tanks underneath below in the other level for the délestage/remontage. The winery has four levels for the gravity, and each tank holds one plot. Monsieur Perronet who knows well his #terroir working with his father since 1979, with very old clones of Sémillon which his father reproduced and are located inside the walls of the vineyard in the Château. Mr. Perronet also produces #Château du Mayne in #Graves ( @thevinecollective ) #sommlife #keeponpouring #SLIB2018 #AllezLesSomms @vinsdebordeaux (at Cérons, Aquitaine, France)

[ajojedapons]

#terroir at @smithhautlafitte #Limestone #Silica #Clay #GünzGravel #Gravel #sommlife #keeponpouring #SLIB2018 #AllezLesSomms @wsetglobal (at Château Smith Haut Lafitte)

[ajojedapons]

Part 1: our visit to #Château @SmithHauteLafite a Grand Cru Classé from Pessac-Léognan - a very beautiful property with lots of large art sculptures peppered through the grounds. #sommlife #keeponpouring #AllezLesSomms #SLIB2018 @ecoleduvin (at Château Smith Haut Lafitte)