#TBT to February, when Bruce was sampling the juice from our freshly pressed chardonnay fruit.⁠

In winemaking, we have no short cuts -  quality in is quality out, so we have some amazing foundations !

Our cuvees have now completed their alcoholic fermentation in oak casks.  Wines like Artus are just beginning their secondary fermentation, in which the lactic acid bacteria soften malic acid by converting it to lactic acid, along with a myriad of flavour and aromatic complexities. 

An easy way to check on the progress of the “malo fermentation” is to place your ear over the bung of the oak barrels and listen for a gentle cracking sound – which is the tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide bursting when they reach the surface of the wine.  

We are playing the wines nice music, keeping them at stable temperatures and generally working on the principle of being kind and respecting them; knowing that they will return the courtesy.