Vineyards and Wines

INTRO

Our Champagne House owns about ten hectares of vineyard, which corresponds, throughout the year, to a distance of 100 kilometres for the variety of work done on the vines.

La taille

January - February - March - April - Pruning
This is the longest of the vineyard operations and takes place from January to March. The number of fruiting buds retained is determined in advance, depending on the method of pruning and regulations. Pruning is done with manual pruning shears or with an electric tool in the case of thick vines.

Le liage

January - February - March - April - Tying
The fruit-bearing canes, cut in advance, are positioned and attached to wires with a tie (paper string) before the vegetation begins.

La Plantation

April - May - Planting
Planting is governed by very strict regulations. The density of an average plantation is of about 8000 vines per hectare. The objective of this set limit is quality of the grapes. The first harvest will only take place from the third year onwards.

ébourgeonnage

April - May - Disbudding
This consists of eliminating the excess or non-fruit-bearing buds at the bottom of the vine material during the month of May.

Le relevage

May - June - Wire lifting
Carried out as soon as the vine has grown 8 to 10 leaves. This operation consists of raising the wires (2 wires) in order to avoid the fall of the stems. A second wire lifting is carried out when the vine possesses 12 to 15 leaves.

Floraison

May - June - Flowering
Flowering occurs between the first and second lifting and we consider that harvest will take place an estimated 90 days later.

palissage

May - June - Trellising
The branches of the vines must be disciplined, in order to aerate the foliage and allow the plant to capture as much sunlight as possible. They are therefore held vertically and separated between the two wires by staples.

Rognage

June - July - August - Trimming
This operation consists of eliminating the excess foliage in order to encourage fruitage and to give the leaves the amount of sunlight necessary for good ripening.

La Vendange

September - The harvest
The harvest is carried out according to the Champagne tradition. The beginning date varies according to the CIVC (Comité Interprofessionnel des Vins de Champagne) directives, and the quotas imposed by the INAO (Institut National d'Appellation d'Origine), all with the greatest possible quality in mind. The grapes are picked by hand on our estate for 15 days.

L'élaboration du vin (le pressurage)

Pressing
This step consists of pressing whole bunches of grapes in order to extract the juice during the harvest period. Once the grapes have been picked, they must be taken as quickly as possible to the press of the House Devavry.

The extraction of the juice must be progressive. It takes three hours, during which three to four "retrousses" must be carried out between each press. This operation consists in pushing the least crushed grapes from the edge of the wooden barrel to the centre of the press.

première fermentation

First Fermentation
The first fermentation is the process that transforms the must into wine. The yeasts "consume" the sugar and thus produce alcohol and carbon dioxide. This stage begins a few days after pressing has ended and lasts two to three weeks. At the end of this process, we will have produced what is known as a clear wine, or still wine. This is a non-sparkling wine, which we then leave to settle for several months in vats or oak barrels.

Le tirage

Bottling
After filtering and blending the wines, we perform the bottling, or "tirage", in the spring. The bottles are hermetically sealed with a capsule, then laid down and stacked, row by row, in the cellar.

prise de mousse

Foam creation and aging on lees
This process is called the second fermentation. The ferments added during the bottling provoke the setting of the foam. The sugar present in the bottle will be transformed into carbon dioxide thanks to the yeasts and will remain trapped in the bottle. We then let the wines age for several years.

dégorgement et museltage

Disgorging and Muzzling
Disgorging consists of eliminating the yeast deposit that the riddling has concentrated in the neck of the bottle.
The dosage consists of adding a certain dose of liqueur (from brut nature to doux) in each bottle.
The corking is the step during which we slide the cork into the neck to ensure a perfect seal.
The muselet or muzzle is a small metal cage made of wire that locks the cork onto the neck of the bottle.

Habillage

Dressing
The dressing consists of affixing the label and the cap on the bottle.

Dégustation 2

Tasting
The last step in the making of Champagne is to savour our accomplished work in your company.