Domaine Château de Grand Pré

History of the estate

Ours is an 8 hectares

family estate on the charming Beaujolais commune of Fleurie in the Beaujolais Crus winemaking area of the Auvergne Rhône Alpes region of France.
Since 2009, we have chosen to formalise our choice of natural vine tending techniques and today use Ecocert certified organic methods.

On slopes that face the rising sun, grow our very expressive Gamay Noir a Jus Blanc vines that give the grapes for our wine and are so well-rooted in our terroir. Here the climate is semi-continental with both oceanic and Mediterranean influences.

Our Fleurie is the fruit of old vines of over 60 years of age planted in granitic and sandy soils, while our Morgon comes from a terroir made up of decomposed rock and crumbly schist.

How we work

Making organic wine

means using techniques that respect the environment

From December to March the vines are pruned by hand.
No herbicides are used.

We till round the vines throughout the year to limit weed growth.

This very precise task encourages the vine roots to delve really deep into the soil, right up to the granite itself, meaning that our wines are infused with the flavours of our terroir.

In September

comes harvest time, the grapes are only ever picked by hand and sorted into small containers or bins depending on the cuvée.
Our yields are low, between 25 and 35 hl/ha depending on the vintage.

Vinification and maturing

In the vessels…

When the hand-picked whole bunches of grapes are vatted they release some of their juice and macerate in it, in a carbon dioxide rich environment, for 15 to 20 days.

This is the important stage when the colour, aromas, flavours and tannins of any given wine are determined.

The natural vinification process continues without any additives, the yeasts come from the grapes themselves; the whole process always remains under the winemaker’s watchful eye.

At the end of vatting, the run-off juice is drawn from the vat.

The remaining grapes are then gently pressed. We call the resulting juice “paradis”, this first wine is mild and sweet.

Maturation

We rack the wines to clarify them, then mature them for several months in the cellar, in barrels or vats, giving them time to unveil their secrets.

As the wine matures, it fills out and becomes rich in complex aromas and flavours.

Finally, the wine is bottled without filtering; little or no sulphite is added, depending on the vintage.