Domaine de la Butte: Wines
The yields achieved at harvest are low, being restricted to 35 hl/ha or less, much lower than the permitted yield for the appellation which is a remarkable 55 hl/ha. Some notable exceptions yielded much smaller harvests though, with 2008 (17 hl/ha) and 2003 (25 hl/ha) being two of the more extreme examples.
The harvest is completed entirely by hand, the process being very similar to the one developed by Jacky Blot at Domaine de la Taille aux Loups; inadequately ripe or rotten fruit is eliminated both at the picking stage and also at the first sorting on a table de tri placed in the vineyard. The fruit is then transferred to the winery in 20-kilogram trays where it is destemmed before undergoing a final sorting by a Mistral machine which aids the elimination of damaged grapes, leaves and other non-grape matter. The fruit can then be transferred into the subterranean cellars (pictured on next page) using a chute which passes through the rock (pictured below – beneath a temporary marquee in readiness for the 2013 harvest) to the huge chamber that lies beneath.
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