The wine cycle
The 4 seasons
The vine wakes up in spring after a well-deserved winter rest! In summer, it prepares to welcome the grape-pickers. The Loire vineyard lives to the rhythm of the seasons in the vineyards and in the cellars.
Winter: Vine pruning and new wine
From the vines...
It's winter. The harvest is over and the leaves are gradually falling. The vines have done their best, and we can take advantage of this to add any organic and mineral amendments they may need, depending on the vintage. In preparation for pruning, we remove the trellising, i.e. the wires that support the vine shoots in the Loire Valley. Pruning continues until March. It determines the vigor of the vine and its theoretical grape load.
...to the cellars
The fermentations are complete, except for the richest sweet wines; tastings of new wines are well underway. The maître de chai begins to assemble his different vats for the Loire wines destined to be drunk young; he starts ageing the cuvées de garde.
Once malolactic fermentation is complete on the reds. Aging continues with racking from vats and barrels. Some supple, light cuvées are already ready to drink.
3rd Thursday in November: les primeurs, all new and beautiful !
Freshly bottled, Touraine primeur and Anjou gamay primeur go on sale on the 3rd Thursday in November following the harvest. Special care is taken in their vinification: whole bunches are fermented in vats with carbon dioxide for several days before being pressed.
Result : they express all the ardor of their youth and give the impression of crunching fresh grapes! To celebrate these first wines of the year, numerous festivals are organized, notably in Amboise, Montrichard, Onzain, Tours and Blois.
Spring: vine awakening and bottling
From the vines...
In spring, the Loire vine begins a new vegetative cycle, with the sap coming up through the branches and "weeping"through the scars left by pruning. The phases follow one another: during the debourrement (enlargement of the buds from which the shoots are born) the winegrower fears the spring frosts; then, he removes the counter-buds and buds not useful for pruning the following year.
Until the famous "Saints de Glace" (St Mamert, St Pancrace and St Servais) on May 11, 12 and 13, Loire winegrowers live under the threat of spring frosts, which can destroy all or part of their harvest.
At flowering, we know approximately the date of the next harvest, some 110 days later. At nouaison, the flowers become berries; at the same time, the operations of lifting (branches attached to the trellis) and trimming begin as this vigorous species of vine grows.
...to the cellars
The "spring cuvées", whites and fruity rosés are bottled and shipped after a few weeks' rest. The others continue to age.
Some of the more structured wines are bottled just before summer, and apart from the exceptional wines aged for a very long time, the last bottlings of the previous vintage will take place in autumn, when calm has returned to the cellars.
Summer: vineyard beautification and harvest preparation
From the vines...
Summer shines on the vineyard. Work to improve quality follows one another: effeuillage de la vigne côté soleil levant, suppression des éventuelles grappes en surnombre par "vendanges en vert" (vendanges en vert) (grapes still green) ... After the véraison (grape berries change color), the true beginning of ripening, the vines stop growing.In August, with the "aûtement", the shoots change color from green to brown.
...to the cellars
This is the period of preparation of the cellar for the reception of the harvest.
Autumn: Harvest in the vineyard and effervescence in the cellar
From the vines...
Autumn colors dress up the vineyards. The crucial question is to determine the right harvest date so that, depending on the grape variety, plot and harvesting technique, the grapes can be picked at optimum phenolic and physiological maturity. Obviously, the weather will be one of the most important elements of the harvest.
...to the cellars
As soon as the harvest begins, it's all buzz in the cellar with the reception of the grapes, de-stemming, pressing, launching and monitoring alcoholic fermentations, moving from one tank to another, pumping over, punching down and then draining off the red wines... it's the start of the winemaking process, all while new grapes are regularly brought in. It's undoubtedly the most fascinating, but also the most exhausting, time of the year!
To remember!
In the vineyards and in the cellar, each season is a crucial stage in the making of wine
Les primeurs are on the 3rd Thursday in November
In winter the vines sleep but work is intense in the cellars
A year is needed to start making wine
Loire Wines wish you happy tasting!!