What gives to our wines the best quality?
Yes, we stand 100% for the quality of our wines and we are rightly proud of it. Do you want evidence? Here are:
- We mostly press the whole grapes (even with stems), and thus we achieve the delicate character of the must essentially without unwanted sludge additives. We also do long-term maceration on mash or berries, in qvevri Georgian clay containers or in chimney barrels.
- We let the wines ferment at low temperatures on its own yeast from the vineyard. They mainly ferment and mature in new oak barrels with a volume of 225, 500, 600 and 1,000 liters of French (85%), Slavonian, Austrian and Wallachian oak. We also use acacia barrels for some varieties.
- We only biologically degrade malo-lactic acid in wines, which is unstable and does not benefit the human body. We only influence our wine making process physically (mainly by regulating the temperature).
- We do not filter wines, or only very gently (only mechanically). We do not use any chemicals or sulfur during wine fermentation and maturation.
- After bottling, we store the wines in our sandstone cellars in Nový Šaldorf – the early Tertiary sea sedimentation layer creates ideal conditions for wine maturing in barrels and for storing bottled wines.
- And in the end, a few more numbers: barrel cellars – regulated fermentation and maturation temperature 10 to 20 ° C, humidity 70 to 90%. Bottle cellars – temperature 9 to 12 ° C all year round, humidity 80 to 95%.
Why new oak barrels?
One of the basic characteristics of our wine production is the use of new oak barrels. The general opinion is that the basic reason for the use of barrels is the enrichment of the taste and bouquet components with the so-called “oak substances” (vanilla, caramel, smoke, etc.). However, we have our head and rich experience and we see it a little differently. Here are our main reasons why we use the new oak barrels:
- The cellular structure of oak wood allows ideal breathing (maturation) of wine, so the wines can be kept on yeast for a long time (mother wine) by simply stirring without the presence of sulfur, which is very important for wine maturation (new development of taste, new bouquet ingredients, natural preservation, lifelong natural ability to coexist with oxygen).
- Long-term maturation of oak wood, which precedes the actual production of barrels, and careful firing of barrels creates an ideal environment for fermentation and maturation of wine (breathing, hygiene).
- Oak tannins (tannins) are very important for the stability of wine, they strengthen its structure and, in cooperation with alcohol, almost completely replace SO2 (it has an antioxidant effect). The structure of the wine does not need to be based on unstable components such as malic acid, residual sugars, SO2, etc.
- And only finally, as a bonus, we agree – the new barrel gives the wine typical taste and nasal sensations such as vanilla tones, smoky tones, chocolate character and more, it expands the space for the aromatic and taste expression of wine. The overall expression of the wine is enriched without suppressing its character (width, persistence, clear solid structure), and the wines reach a harmonious expression very soon after bottling.
