As one can imagine everything that I am doing now is on a steep learning curve. Certainly general winemaking practices apply particularly those about good housekeeping as sanitation is the backbone to the cellar. But otherwise the grape variety itself, the age and layout of the vineyard, the growing issues specific to southern France and the Roussillon, and the techniques employed in the winery are all new. This of course is the excitement but can also be frustrating.
So, imagine my delight when my friend Carrie Sumner told me that she was going to make a pinot noir. She and her husband Marcel have a small winery in Maury, Domaine des Enfants www.domaine-des-enfants.com. Of course they make the wines that are known from this area, grenache gris/blanc, grenache noir and carignan. But Carrie is from Oregon and has wanted a small project of her own so pinot noir was a natural. She and Marcel found the fruit in Limoux. The vineyard is farmed biodynamically which is in keeping with their philosophy of farming here in Maury.
I took the morning off to hang out and provide moral support. It was also fun in that I could share all that I had learned on the specifics of pinot noir such as no crushing, whole berries only, a three to five day cold soak, punch down protocol, etc. Of course they attacked this project in the same meticulous way that they handle their other grapes. They literally review EVERY cluster and by hand remove any unwanted berries (this is after severe triage in the vineyard). For 1/2 a day I felt completely at home. Thanks Carrie and Marcel!
