Domaine Pichot: Wines
After picking the fruit is today all pressed and vinified in the cellars in the Vallée de Nouy. The harvest is entirely Chenin Blanc, as unlike some other vignerons in the appellation Christophe Pichot has no distant parcels of Gamay or Grolleau to work with. The fruit is pressed using a large modern pneumatic press, before fermentation which for the majority of the crop takes place in large stainless steel vats. There are a relatively small number of oak barrels in use, wood playing a minor part here. The approach to élevage and bottling is traditional, the wines resting on the lees for just a short period of time, no more than six months, before bottling. As at many other large domaines the harvest is split across the different styles which range from austere sec to turbocharged moelleux.
There are two principal sec cuvées representing two distinct parcels. On the whole they are vinified in stainless steel, although the wine from Coteau de la Biche may include a small percentage, maybe 10%, aged in barrel. The residual sugar is often nudging sec-tendre, with between 7 and 9 g/l. The style of wine from Clos Cartaud is often drier, with perhaps 3 to 5 g/l residual sugar.
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