Total area: 8.7 ha

• 6.7 ha Graves red

• 2 ha Graves white

Grape varieties:

Graves red

65% Merlot

30% Cabernet Sauvignon

5% Petit Verdot

Graves white

55% Sémillon

30% Sauvignon

10% Sauvignon Gris

5% Muscadelle

VINEYARD WORK

The preservation of our grape vines is ensured through year-long tillage. No form of chemical weeding is used. It is important to aerate the soil and to encourage deep root growth for a strong vine plant.

The size of the vine is controlled in order to limit the number of grape clusters per vine plant and thus increase their density. The mixed Guyot pruning method is used to achieve this.

The vineyard is maintained by sustainable viticulture, meaning that treatments against powdery mildew, downy mildew and other diseases or insects are used according to climatic conditions and level of pest pressure on the plant without harming the environment or native wildlife.

Environmentally-friendly harvesting methods such as leaf thinning and green harvesting (removal of clusters from overloaded vine plants) are carried out to obtain better grape maturity and therefore a higher concentration of sugar.

VINIFICATION AND AGEING

Graves white

The grapes are carefully hand-harvested and gently pressed using a pneumatic press. After the grape juice settles, the must begins to ferment in vats designed to ensure temperature control. The fermentation process is then completed in 40% new barrels.

When all the sugar has been converted, the fermentation process ends and “fine lees” settle at the bottom of the barrel. A long ageing process of 9 to 10 months then begins in the cask. During this time, the fine lees are stirred regularly in order to put them back into suspension for optimal richness.

Graves red

The harvest, obtained by hand or by machine, is taken to a sorting table where only the good grapes are kept. After de-stemming and crushing, the grapes are sent by auger to the vinification vats. These vats are made of stainless steel and contain the crushed grapes soaking in their juice. A 4 to 5 week period of fermentation and maceration begins in the vats, which are thermo-regulated for optimal extraction of the grape skin’s colour and tannin. Work is then carried out daily to ensure that a regular pump-over process. This process involves stirring the must at the bottom of the vat and “wetting” the solid parts (skin) that float. Once the maceration is complete, the wine is “racked” or run off, then natural malolactic fermentation (natural de-acidification by bacteria) is done. After assembling the different grape varieties and the best produce, the Château Jouvente wine is aged for 12 months in 25% new barrels.