Secrets of wine making

The secrets of wine making of Pierre Gonet : the Cellar Master
	For the vine... the culture "raisonnée" The winegrowers from Champagne are always looking for the best grapes. The vines are low and the cut is short, the attention is constant. Recently, Pierre Gonet takes part to a group which is strongly concerned the ecosystem. In order to keep the character of the terroir, a research program on the treatments (spray against sickness or insect invasion) or fertilizer is engaged. We are not talking about bio-culture but « culture raisonnée ». the important thing is to care the vinesand prevent to much spraying in order to extract the best of the grapes. *Selection of the grapes* During the harvest, done by hand, only the best part of the cuvée will be registred of the Champagne Appellation. We go for the quality and not for the quantity. We can only obtain 100 litres of juice with a press of 150 kg of grape. In the cellar, we must mention the origin of the grape (name of the village, cru and rate) After several weeks the juice will because a wine. We taste the « vin clair » for a first evaluation.
*The blending* All the art is to obtain a well balanced wine. We can blend different grapes from different cru from different years. The aim is to give an harmony and to keep the own style of the house. The bottling When the blending is ready, we add a small quantity of cane sugar and ferments. We do the bottling and keep the bottles in the cellars.
	*The 2nd Fermentation* The operation is quite simple : the ferments transform the sugar in carbonic gas and alcohol. It will create a small quantity of sediments. Time to ageing When the 2nd fermentation is done, the bottles stay in the cellars up to its maturity. In order to extract the sediment, we will turn the bottle and then disgorge it. We add in the same time the « liqueur de dosage » to obtain a brut of sec or demi-sec. We put at the end the cork and the label of authenticity.