CÉLESTE 2018 (Domaine de l'Ecu)

DESCRIPTION

CÉLESTE is the latest cuvée created by Claire, the Fred Niger's wife. It is made up of a clever blend of two grape varieties - Folle Blanche and Chardonnay - macerated and aged in clay amphorae according to a very specific protocol. The result is stunning.

TERROIR

The two grape varieties that make up CÉLESTE, the Folle Blanche and the Chardonnay, are planted on a primary crystalline base composed of Orthogneiss, a hard rock resulting from the Granite metamorphism (recrystallization and deformation under the effect of temperature and pressure), and whose original formation dates back to the Pre-Cambrian, 600 million years ago.
Although its structure and composition are close to the Granite's one, Orthogneiss is less siliceous and a little richer in trace elements.

WINEGROWING & WINEMAKING

The estate is certified in Organic Agriculture since 1975 and in biodynamics since 1998. The vines do not receive any phytosanitary treatment, nor have they ever received any.

The Folle Blanche and the Chardonnay grapes are picked separately by hand and carefully sorted. In the cellar, they are manually destemmed and the Folle Blanche and the Chardonnay grapes are each vinified separately but both in clay amphorae :

• The Folle Blanche grapes are placed in terracotta jars for a 20-day skin maceration. The alcoholic fermentation takes place spontaneously in the presence of the native yeasts. The grapes are then pressed and the juice is then put in terracotta jars again for a 9-month ageing during which the malolactic fermentation will be completed.
• The Chardonnay grapes are placed in terracotta jars for a 9-month skin maceration. The alcoholic fermentation is triggered spontaneously under the native yeasts action, followed by the malolactic fermentation triggered by the lactic bacteria.
  At the end of the 9-month skin maceration, the must is pressed.

The musts of the two grape varieties are then blended in vats for two months before being bottled without any filtration and any fining.

No sulphites were added during the whole vinification process.