Cellars

Winemaking

The grape harvest usually starts in early October and is finished after 15-20 days.

Each vineyard parcel is monitored and the grapes tasted numerous times during the ripening season; the grapes are picked for optimal maturity when a balance of sugars, acid, and tannins are reached.
The entire harvest is de-stemmed and then sorted to ensure that no leaves or stems pass beyond the sorting table and only the healthiest berries from each bunch are fermented.

The fermentation cellar is equipped with concrete tanks of various volumes that provide precision winemaking for each individual parcel. The winemaking is not carried out to force a particular wine style but rather to allow each wine to express its unique origins in the vineyard; no sugar is added, the fermentations are natural and fine tannins are extracted with delicate plunging and pump-overs. After 3 weeks on skins, the wines are lightly pressed and relocated to another tank to settle before starting their maturation in wood casks (for one year).

Ageing Journey

The wine is aged in 30HL French oak casks (3,000 Litres) that rest in the semi-underground cellar beneath the château. The naturally cool and humid cellar provides an ideal environment for wine maturation. The wines rest here without any disturbances except for when topping; the process of replacing any volume loss in the casks caused by evaporation, the “angels share”.

The duration of time that the wines cellar in casks is decided when the wines have achieved a seamless integration of the power of Malbec with the elegance of Chambert’s terroirs. It typically takes between 12 and 16 months of maturation in casks and depends on wine style and vintage.

The malolactic fermentation is carried out in casks and is neither forced nor initiated with the addition of lactic acid bacteria. Nature is in control and it is quite common that this secondary fermentation begins in the spring of the year following the harvest.

Throughout their lifetime in casks, each wine is monitored (samples sent to the lab) and regularly tasted for assessing wine quality.

Keeping with biodynamic principles, the bottling of the wines is carried out during the descending moon to preserve fruit and enhance the longevity of the wine. The bottles are cellared on site in our stone walled storage cellar where temperature and humidity are ideal for storing bottles.