In the chai, Marc Plouzeau, the winemaker at Château de la Bonnelière, explained how the grapes are handled during the harvest, and how the grape juice is then turned into wine. Marc told us all about malo-lactic fermentation and the differences between ageing wine in vats and barrels.
Once the ageing has finished, which can take up to 18 months after the harvest depending on the year and the type of wine, the wine is then bottled in-situ at the winery. Marc showed us the machines used to bottle and label the wine.
We then sat down to a workshop to help us identify the aromas found in wine, something that is not as easy as it seems!
The cellar used to age the wines produced by Château de la Bonnelière is located directly underneath the Chinon Fortress, in one of the galleries formed from where the rock was extracted to build the castle above. In this magical place, we saw where the barrels of wine will be brought to continue the wines maturing.
The day finished with us each having a go at blending these four wines. Using measuring cylinders, we blended several different wines to better understand firsthand the different characteristics that each can bring to a finished wine.
Many thanks to all of the participants and to Marc for sharing his passion of winemaking with us.
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