Producer Article

Philippe Leclerc

Last edited on 11/1/2012 by fries
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For some of you this maybe the first time you have had the chance to experience my range of products. Unfortunately, I am afraid that I do always have opportunity to personally meet the clientele passioned by my style of vinification, both amateurs and professionals alike. Consequently, it is accross the following few pages that I have attempted to give you just a mere insight into the making of my wines, their vineyards and appellations.

Some of my vineyards have belonged to my patrimonial family for many generations now. Since I have taken over the reins I have endeavoured to continue to create a wine with the same state of mind as my ancestors. For this, I have been passionate from a very early age in carefully profiting from the fabulous richness developed by vinegrowers from yesteryear and wich has been passed on from father to son for over a hundred or so years.

Primarily, I have tried to understand everything that is comprehensible and respect everything that is not, both on a parental level and that of the older, wiser people of the village. The most important thing for me has always been to retain the spice and spice in my wines which has always made the greatness and notoriety of our vineyards for almost a thousand years.
This considered, I am going to sum up in the next few lines the most important points that one must respect when creating a wine possessing all the qualities of a wine from yesteryear. Everything starts with the wine and knowing whether the soils are well balanced or in need of manure. New wines must be planted with seedlings that are going to give quality rather than quantity. Dead vines should be replaced periodically instead of ripping up whole vineyards, as it the vines with an average age of 30 years that bear the vine and and the wine with the best quality and obtaining all the goodness of the ground.
At harvest tiem, patience is needed whilst waiting for the optimum matury of the grapes which are then meticulously sorted to remove any that have been damaged by rot or hail in a difficult year.

Secondly, harvesting during a period of rain should be avoided at all costs so that there is no cause of dilution in the wines. Lastly, the grapes should be handled with care right up until the moment of being put into vat in order that skins are kept in fact and the juice is not exposed to the air, allowing the risk of oxidation.
The crop then undergoes a three wzzk period in vat of which the first week involves a cold maceration followed by a 15 day fermentation.
During these three weeks the "cap of skins" that constantly rises to the top of the vat is trodden down by foot 3 times a day, pushing the skins in contact with the juice and so thereby extracting colour and matter from the pulp of skins. The original white juice, hence, begins to turn colour whilst the sugars transform into alcohol.
The greatest worry during this period is the rise in temperature of fermenting vats which is like that of a child with fever. This is an occurance that often necessary to stand a guard watch in order to survey and cool down these vats, preventing them from over-flowing like boiling milk over a stove.
It is after this period that I leave the wine to settle some time before running it off into oak barrels where it is aged for up to 2 years. 100% new oak is used to age the premier cru wines whilst all other appelations are aged in oak barrels of between 30 and 50% new woods. This ageing process, which is so important in the enhancement of a wines tannins and pleasing aromas, help to create a wine of more dominant a character. However, it must not be forgotten that a wine-maker who tries to add strengh and complexity to a rather feeble wine in concentration by ageing it in this manner, is making a grave mistake.
After the twice monthly topping up of the barrels and a few rackings ons finally comes to the bottling. During this final process I am bottling a wine that is the most natural possible. In order to achieve this, I practise neither filtering nor fining which removes so much of the extract that I have tried so hard to retain. Only in still trying to keep my wine relatively clear do I carry out this work during the winter when the weather is cold and dry. It is at this moment in time that the wine leaves the little deposit left resting at the bottom of the barrel as if it were hibernating.

Any small amount of sediment or deposit that occurs in the bottle will allow the wine to feed in its presence, especially when left to age to several years. My advice is to age these wines for between 5 and 10 years in a average vintage, and for between 10 and 20 years in more favourable ones. Today, connoisseurs will speak to you with great praise of the years 1947, 1953, 1959, 1964, 1969, 1971, 1976 and 1978, where as the quality of those less well structured years is when the tasty finesse and aromas are inebriated more quickly. Please don't hesitate to contact me in the event of any unanswered question or information, as it would be my pleasure to fulfill any such requests.

Cordialement
Philippe Leclerc
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