From ground to glass
Notre raison d'être
Ce que je regarde, qui m’intrigue et que je cherche à comprendre, c’est ce qui relie ce type à sa vigne… C’est bien plus que l’histoire d’une parcelle cadastrale et de son propriétaire. […]
Ce que je regarde, c’est la singulière fusion entre un individu et un morceau de rocher battu par les vents.
The vines
Vines are, of all fruit plants, the one that produces the fruit of “excellence in natural sugars.” It is of vines that is said ‘that it rejoices the heart of men, that rejoices the God and men.”
If in food you find necessary support, in wine you find courage, joy, journeys for your soul and the links with others. The beauty of vines cannot be found in their winding, crawling and weak appearance. Intertwining its thin arms with large trees, the plant cannot grow without their support without which it falls.
From this twisted wood that has nothing of beauty are born the pampres (vine branch with the grapes) which crown the hillsides; One of the most tender flowers is the fruit of the vine, from this flower come the grapes, and from these grapes come the wine.
This apparent skin was contemptible: what must be done if the vine stock does not give anymore fruit? It is not even wood fit for a fire. But as soon as it is trimmed in the middle of winter, leaving only the structure, as soon as it is attached to help the plant grow and rise, then it will be able to give out kilos of fruity berries.
The plant is capable of anything when it is supported! Its support is man, the one that brings him courage and strength for it to give fruit. For certain people, God himself is the winegrower who takes care of the vines, and men are the structure.
From the basest of men, the feeblest to the most humble, man has created the fruit that can give the precious elixir which is an essential part of every celebration.
The grape bunches
These bunches of tiny grapes must be seen in the springtime, hidden under leaves: how delicate! All of that fragile beauty in these few green and fragile squared centimetres.
With the summer and the coming of the sun, the flowers of each bunch become small berries which grow bigger day by day. The Chardonnay berries will then change colour, small brown freckles will appear under the August sunshine all while they continue to grow bigger. The hard skin of the fruit will soften. The winter rain that lays deep underearth is very precious for the vines as their roots seep 10 meters down to quench their thirst. The summer rain freshens each of the berries.
The time for harvesting is now approaching, a shared time of celebration. Harvesting is not always easy, but the heart always wants to stay in a state of joy as the end of a year of hard labour and care approaches. If everything goes as planned, the songs, the laughs and the celebrations erupt in the tired bodies of those who bend their backs down together to reach every hidden berry.
The wine
We must squeeze the wonder that is the berry as quickly as possible for it to give us its juice! Once it is squeezed, measured in volume, once it has gained enough sugar, the juice has become ‘must’ that will fill wooden casks and barrels: it will very soon express it’s joy of having been collected and gathered by rising in temperature up to 60ºC, as if catching a fever.
This natural rise in temperature is the source of a profound transformation of the wine. It must do this in order to find a calm equilibrium, rest for long months, or even years, in the freshness of the wine cellar, and then continue to rest in the glass bottles, to finally become what our hearts and taste buds have been waiting for with gentle impatience: a true ‘grand cru’.
Aussi maintenant nous vous passons le relais.
C’est à vous de déguster et relire dans vos verres de Pouilly-Fuissé sa longue et belle histoire.