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Wine Interest &
Activities
The "château" is a beautiful building surrounded by 70 hectars
of forests and fields (including 38 hectars of vineyards). Here
we can welcome our guests and customers. The wine is growing in
total respect of the nature and for the wine making M.Batisse is
helped by experienced winemakers to produce suple, fruity wines.
Vineyards: The vineyard is planted with three traditional
grape varieties for the reds:
-Merlot
-Cabernet Sauvignon
-Cabernet Franc
and for our sweet white wine :
-Semillon
Our vineyards are tended in full respect of Nature and the
environment
Rows are spaced 3 m apart, while the vines are planted at 0.9 to
1.0 m intervals.
Yield monitoring starts early, with the winter pruning.
Double asted pruning is used to distribute the grapes evenly and
avoid an accumulation of the bunches which could induce
undesirable rot on the red grapes.
During the spring, several sprouts are cut away to promote the
upward flow of the sap into the remaining branches and also to
avoid having too much foliage which would compete with the
grapes.
As early as June, leaves are cut away on one side of the rows to
promote the change of colour of the grapes and to enhance the
sugar concentration process. The work is all done by hand. Once
a year, we spray weed killer under the rows in measured
quantities, but never in winter.
All the vineyards are planted with grass in a measured way so as
to induce competition between the plants and in order to monitor
the yields and the stress induced by the necessary lack of water
during the summer months.
Cellar: The cellar was built in 1999. Our modern
vinification equipment ensures perfect hygienic conditions in
the cellars. Vinification occurs in stainless steel vats for
practically all the harvest, although concrete vats are used for
some cuvees. All our vats have temperature monitoring, allowing
us to keep the temperature under perfect control, both when
cooling the vats, when heating them, or to keep them at a stable
temperature. This temperature control is essential to obtain
high quality products.
Before entering the vats, the grapes are destemmed, so as to
remove all leaves and stalks, leaving only the berries and the
juice.
The first 48 to 72 hours, the vats are cooled down so as to
avoid starting the fermentation. During this cooling period, re-cycling
occurs with the help of inert nitrogen gas (recycling in this
context means letting the juice flow from the bottom to the top
of the vat).
After this first stage, the vats are slowly heated up, which
starts the alcoholic fermentation process. The must is regularly
recycled and two or three times, the ‘hat’ is loosened so as to
obtain optimal extraction of the tannins and aromas contained in
the fruit.
When the alcoholic fermentation is finished, the vat is cooled
down again for a natural fining of the wine. In the next stage,
we work the wines with micro-oxygenation when they are in the
post fermentation stage, under the lees.
Once the malolactic fermentation has ended, we taste the vats
with our oenologue and decide the blend attributions of each one.
This is then followed by ageing in oak barrels for the 1ères
côtes de Bordeaux and the cuvees prestiges of our Bordeaux
Supérieur.
Ageing lasts twelve months. During this maturing period, our
best cuvees are subjected to micro-oxygenation. This technique
helps develop the tannin/anthocyane structure, which gives
volume, a better structure, and an intense colour to the wine.
At the same time, the aromatic complexity also develops.
As to our sweet white Cadillac wine, it is harvested by
selection of individual berries, which are then sorted and
destemmed. The grapes are delicately pressed and the resulting
juice is put in oak barrels to undergo alcoholic fermentation.
When the desired alcohol/sugar balance is reached, we stop the
fermentation, and leave it to age for twelve months in oak
barrels.
Wine Portfolio:
-
La Chapelle d'Arcy (Bordeaux, Bordeaux
Clairet, Dry White Bordeaux)
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Isabeau de Naujan (Bordeaux, Bordeaux
Clairet, Dry White Bordeaux)
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Château Naujan Lapeyrere
(Premières
Côtes de Bordeaux,
Cadillac)
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Château
Lafleur Naujan
(Bordeaux
Supérieur,
Bordeaux, Bordeaux Clairet)
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