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Château Bénéhard vineyard, a passion, a philosophy, an ethic and a desire to reconcile respect for the terroirs and oenological progress.
Anne-Sophie de Verchère vinifies her wine naturally, respecting the principles of natural wine production. Our wine is vinified naturally with fermentation with indigenous yeasts, aged on fine lees and bottled with zero input, in order to respect the most natural expression of the terroir.
Philippe de Jaham's approach is based on an agriculture that respects the soil, the vine and its environment (HVE level 3 option A certification) with the presence of around 100 hives promoting the pollination of our vines, seeds between the appropriate rows and chosen according to the particularity of each plot).
The care of the vine is carried out with the principles of Biodynamics.
The preparations specific to Biodynamics, Silica and plants are made in copper dynamizers.
The herbal teas and decoctions are misted with a low-pressure cyclonic type technique so as not to attack the vines.
Winemaking
The birth of our wines takes place with joy, rigor and demands in our cellars, control of the crushing of the harvest and the time before vatting
Daily work, based on tasting, sampling and analysis, is carried out throughout the winemaking process.
Respect for the fruit is essential and we do everything we can to create great wines: berries with a homogeneous profile
As soon as it arrives at the “Jules Verne” vat room for the red or “Simone de Beauvoir” for the white, the harvest is once again sorted to be received by gravity in its new home (fermentation tank) according to 4 criteria:
- High level of hygiene of premises and winemaking equipment
- Grape varieties
- Parcels (aromatic identity of each parcel)
- Historical context of the vintage following the study, tasting of the berries in order to determine the qualitative, taste and harmonious profile of the vintages to come.
As such, strict monitoring of the progress of the fermentation, and strict conditions of impeccable hygiene are necessary.
Cold fermentation for red and white wines, with stable thermoregulation of the environment, without precipitation in order to allow all the time to do its work and to perfectly extract all the potential riches contained in the grapes.
For red wines, after “the run-offs” during which the wine is separated from its marc (essentially made up of grape skins and seeds), it goes into its 2nd so-called malolactic fermentation. Thanks to this step, the wine softens and gains roundness and precision.
The marc is pressed (pressing taking into account the texture and fragility of the berries), the pressed wine is aged separately or blended with its free juice, this being decided according to the vintage and its history.
For white wines, malolactic fermentation will be carried out on white wines intended for aging, which will give them more fat and roundness.
Once the malolactic fermentations are completed, the wine can then begin its aging. The crucial phase of breeding begins...