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The harvest
Despite the considerable efforts
made in mechanising the harvest, hand-picking still provides
the best quality, both as regards the care taken with harvesting
and the more gentle treatment of the vines. With quality in
mind, harvesting at Figeac is still totally manual. Picking
is done by a team of meticulous, dedicated people.
At this time of the year,
the risk of bad weather grows daily, and yet the quality of
a vintage depends on complete maturity of all aspects of the
grapes (colour, sugar concentration, acidity, etc). This is
why the harvesting date is determined only after samples of
grapes have been picked from all over the estate. The order
of harvesting is decided according to the state of ripeness
on the different plots, starting with the earliest-maturing
Merlots and finishing with the latest-ripening Cabernets. At
Figeac, every moment during the harvest is decisive.
The same team of grape pickers
comes back every year, an essential factor, since they know
the strict rules of harvesting at Figeac (ripe grapes, no leaves,
etc.). For the trickier vintages, a sorting table is set up
at the entrance to the vat room.
Fermentation
Once in the vat room, the
bunches of grapes pass through an efficient yet gentle machine
which carefully separates the grapes from the stalks. The grapes
are then put into oak vats. Once the pulp and the skins begin
to separate, the alcoholic fermentation begins. The changes
in temperature and sugar density in the juice, a result of the
development of the natural yeast, are regularly measured by
the cellarmaster, under the watchful eye of Thierry Manoncourt.
They then decide whether to maintain the temperature or lower
it by thermoregulation, so that the yeast can "do its job" under
the best conditions to extract all that is best in the grapes.
This is essential for giving Figeac its subtle complexity.
Figeac has ten wooden vats
for forty hectares under vine. The cap is kept submerged thanks
to a wooden grill on top, so that solid matter from the skins
can be absorbed into the wine. This gentle method has the advantage
of naturally dissolving the elements contained in the skins
without any need for stirring, which can tire the wine. This
results in elegant tannins and a subtle bouquet, worthy of a
great wine.
The must naturally works its
way up through the cap formed by the grape skins. As it passes
through, the new wine is continuously enriched with the elements
in the skins that will form the basis of its flavours and aromas.
This method, never abandoned
at Figeac (and also used at Margaux), is now making a comeback
in the Bordeaux area, following recent recommendations by professor
Peynaud.
Adjoining the wooden vats
is another vat room which has 10 stainless steel vats. It was
only the third to be installed in the Bordeaux area (1971),
after Haut-Brion and Latour. It is mainly used for the second
wine and for blending before bottling.
Once the fist fermentation
has been completed, a second fermentation takes place. This
is called malolactic fermentation, as it transforms malic acid
into lactic acid, making wines smoother and more harmonious.
For a long time, this fermentation was left entirely to chance
in Bordeaux; often, it was only triggered by the rise in temperature
that occurs during the first fine days of spring.
On arriving at Figeac in 1947,
Thierry Manoncourt, who had studied malolactic fermentation
at the National Agricultural Institute (INA) in Paris, decided
to try prompting it (immediately after the alcoholic fermentation,
as had been tried in experiments in other countries, particularly
Switzerland. Professors Peynaud and Ribéreau-Gayon showed enormous
interest in this new approach (running the wine off from the
fermentation vats in large volume) and strongly recommended
its general use several years later. However, it was only in
the 1970s that the method was finally used throughout the Bordelais.
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