Exception Viognier

Grape variety: Viognier 100% – of which 2/3 in Yves Cuilleron’s massal selections.

Soil: Limestone scree on clay-limestone marls

Vinification : In 2019, the differences between our two Viognier parcels were exacerbated by the vagaries of the weather and game damage: the older and smaller ones were machine harvested at night on September 16^th, while the massal selections were handpicked on October 1^st! the latter presented a great heterogeneity in the berries, from just ripe to botrytised, passing through passerillées (passed). The two juices (except for the presses) were vinified and matured separately until the final blend, increasing the complexity of the cuvée.

After destemming and direct pressing, a cold stalling on lees of a little less than two weeks was carried out, before racking and storage. Piece of 350 liters new and one wine for the drops, barrel of 9 wines for the presses: all the juices fermented in wood. At the end of nine months of maturing on lees, the wines were blended and lightly filtered at the time of bottling, which took place at the beginning of July 2020, on “fruit” day.