Cuvée: Le Primeur Mais Ne Se Rend Pas

Vintage: 2020

Producer: Vignereuse

Winemakers: Marine Leys

Region: France, Gaillac, Andillac

Style + Colour: Still, red

Grapes/Blend: Gamay

ABV: 14.5%

Sulphur: none added

Winemaking: “We harvested on the 20th August. It was really hot already. It's a carbonic maceration, but I wanted to have a dry carbo so I drained off the free run juice everyday. With the weight of the grapes, the ones at the bottom are getting mashed a bit, and I didn't want the yeasts to start working yet, so we drain off their juice.

To start the gas we need for carbo, once the tank is full of grapes I pour in a few buckets of my pied du cuve*, for 2-3 hours with the tank closed. Because it's already fermenting, it creates enough CO2 to push out the oxygen, then I can drain off the pied du cuve and let the carbonic begin, just as total solids, no liquid.

I wanted to have a dry carbo so I drained off the free run juice everyday. With the weight of the grapes, the ones at the bottom are getting mashed a bit, and I didn't want the yeasts to start working yet, so we drain off that juice. This way at the beginning it's just the enzymes within the grape are breaking down into alcohol, which brings that specific taste of carbonic, rather than the yeasts converting sugars to alcohol. So it's a true Beaujolais style carbo.”