L'ANCESTRALE 2019 (Domaine Sylvain PATAILLE)

L'ANCESTRALE is a wine made from a blend of the estate's oldest vines planted on the places of Clos du Roy, Les Ouzeloy and En Clémengeots. Therefore, it is also a blend of three well distinct terroirs.

TERROIR

L'ANCESTRALE is a blend of three localities with distinct terroirs :

• The place Clos du Roy, located on the northern slope of MARSANNAY and whose soil consists of a thick layer of bedded periglacial scree dating from the Quaternary glaciation period that occured 20,000 years ago: it is made up of gravel. and limestone gravels that the successive freeze and unfreeze episodes have detached from the bedrock, causing them to accumulate on the slopes and at their foot.
  
  
• The place called Les Ouzeloy, located in the heart of the alluvial cone of the MARSANNAY coomb, and whose soil is made up of gravels that were deposited during the last Quaternary glaciation period : gravel and pebbles initially coming from the plateaus and transported by old rivers during successive episodes of freeze / unfreeze accumulated in the valley.
  
  
• The locality En Clémengeots, located in the town of COUCHEY and with a soil dating from the Bajocian (-171 to -167 Ma), composed of a15 meters thick layer of marl with Ostrea Acuminata on the plot's upper half and a layer of crinoidal limestone on its lower half.

WINEGROWING & WINEMAKING

The estate having lost its certification in 2016, and for the following 3 years, in an attempt to save its 2016 harvest, that is why the 2018 vintage does not carry the Bio label. The vines are however still cultivated according to the Organic Agriculture and Biodynamics principles.

The plots which enter into the composition of L'ANCESTRALE are plowed with an horse. The grapes are harvested and vatted in whole bunches after a very selective sorting for a several weeks maceration. The alcoholic fermentation is carried out by the native yeasts and the time to drawn off is not fixed in advance, but decided upon tasting only.
The must is then racked into oak barrels, including 50% of new barrels, where it ages for 24 months. Once the ageing phase is over, the must is racked off without fining or filtration but just with a light addition of SO2 to stabilize and protect the wine.