Domaine Chavy-Chouet, Meursault, 1. Cru, Bourgogne, Frankrig
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Our philosophy
In the vineyards
The aim of all our actions throughout the year is to make high-quality wine. That is why we are meticulously careful with our vines and attend to each vine-plant manually up to 12 times a year.
Our idea of viticulture is demanding and environmentally friendly. We aim to use synthetic chemicals as little as possible and prefer naturally occurring elements such as copper and sulphur.
In order to preserve the balance of the soil and encourage the activity of its ecosystem, we prefer ploughing to permanent green cover between rows. A vineyard which isn't ploughed will develop its roots in the surface, thus reducing its ability to withstand climatic hazards such as drought.
In contrast, as ploughing divides the roots, the vine-plants will have to develop them in depth. As a result, the vineyard will be more resistant to the vagaries of the weather.
At Domaine Chavy-Chouet we are not fanatics. That is why our idea of viticulture doesn't come with an organic or a biodynamic label. All our actions are carefully thought out according to circumstances.
For example, during the heatwave in 2003, the most sensitive vine-plants were trimmed half as often as usual so as to let them grow a considerable number of leaves to protect the grapes from the sun.
Conversely, in wet years such as 2007 and 2008, we thin out the leaves around the grapes in all our vineyards so as to aerate the middle of the vine-plants. In wet years it is also very important that the grapes touch each other slightly in order to prevent them from rotting.
However, it is very important that the vine-plants have enough leaves to carry out photosynthesis properly. That is why we compensate for the lost leaves by trimming the vines higher up, i.e. at 1.30 m (15 cm higher up than usual).
In the cellar
We harvest all grapes by hand, and the pickers sort out any bad grapes if necessary.
The grapes are pressed in a pneumatic wine-press which allows us to control the exact intensity and duration of the pressing.
The must is then cooled down and settles for 48 hours before we put it in barrels, some of which are new.
Our white wines mature for 4-5 years in 228- and 600-L barrels. Afterwards we reuse the barrels a couple of years for our red wines. Every year we replace about 20 barrels. Our wines mature in 25-50% new barrels.
As to our red wines, they are 100% de-stemmed. The maceration and fermentation processes take place in tanks, and we pump over at least twice a day, away from air and without punching the cap.
Our wines mature in barrels for 8-15 months. Here the fermentation processes continue, and it depends on each wine how often we carry out a "bâtonnage" (gentle agitation of the wine which puts the yeasts back in suspension). However, this procedure isn't put into general use in our winery.
We value oak for its ability to round off tannins, but too much oak in a wine rarely rhymes with elegance. That is why we never put our red wines in new barrels. We prefer a long and subtle maturation favouring the expression of fruit and terroir.
We use sulphur sparingly during harvest and add it in small doses throughout maturation. We finally adjust it when bottling the wines.
Our wines mature for a year before we fine and bottle them ourselves at the winery.
Our wines are bottled in half-bottles, normal size bottles and magnums. Occasionally we use larger bottles upon request from our clients.
CHARMES
The Charmes terroir is very large and our plot borders on Puligny-Montrachet. Its alluvial soil is very clayey and makes a rich and generous wine balanced by its freshness.
www.chavy-chouet.com
