At the heart of humanity the vine grows, the fruit ripens and the wine is born!
Pruning
This process is carried out exclusively by hand during the vine’s winter resting period. Pruning is a crucial stage as it shapes each vine and determines the volume as well as the quality of the future harvest.
Budburst
When the temperatures begin to rise in spring, the vine awakens, the roots become active and their energy is passed on to the buds that have been selected by the pruner, thereby giving rise to the first shoots of the year.
Lifting
The vine begins its growing cycle in April. This is the start of a busy period during which all necessary measures need to be taken to grow each vine in the best possible conditions and ensure a ripe and healthy harvest.
De-leafing and Green Harvesting
Leaf stripping is carried out while the clusters are forming to enable the grapes to absorb as much sunlight as possible thereby resulting in rich tannins. Green harvesting, also known as thinning, allows for the selection of the highest quality clusters and ensures that these ripen in optimum conditions and in a sunny and well-ventilated environment.
Harvests / Vinification
This is the key moment of the vintage, there is a lot of built-up stress yet also a sense of relief as is represents the culmination of an entire year’s work in the vineyard. A whole year of working towards the same objective of creating an outstanding vintage, year after year. Manual harvests, mechanical and then manual sorting, vatting using a gravity system and skin maceration are some of the most crucial stages in the creation of a wine. Numerous tastings are carried out during maceration in order to evaluate and adapt to each batch (vats originating from homogenous plots).
Ageing
After about one month in vat, the wine goes into barrels. Only French oak, with 40% new wood, for a period of 12 months. Every cooperage has its own recipe. Each barrel will therefore have a different effect on the wine. The objective is to carefully select each barrel to ensure it is the best possible match for each batch of wine. The marriage between the barrel and the wine will reinforce the wine's complexity. The barrel will accompany the wine, turning it into a wine suitable for cellar-ageing.
Blending
Blending consists of combining and tasting all of the batches from the estate’s various plots and different areas. It is during the tastings, which are carried out by a small team , that the new vintage begins to take shape.
Tasting the wine
After 8 to 15 years' ageing, depending on the vintage, the wines of Grand Corbin will finally be ready to express their finesse, elegance and precision. The ideal qualities for a wine that is destined to be enjoyed in good company…
