Fragmented selection of wood.
A Terroir wood for your barrels. The Forest of the Châtillonnais harbors woods with extra-fine grains, ideal for the elaboration of our barrels. A terroir that means a lot to us, and the meeting between a plant and its environment. The oak tree needs to suffer to offer its elegance. The more the trees suffer to survice, the more they grow slowly and the finer will the grain. The chalky climate of our region, the continental influence and an undulating countryside, force the oak trees to grow progressively and offer the best of themselves. The subtlety of the grain allows slow and gentle exchanges between wine and air through the wood. Le Châtillonnais is since 2019, the 11th French National Park, the only one that has ever been classified as such for its forest.
“Established at a junction of the Châtillonnais Forest and of the Burgundian vineyard. ”
Maturation of the “merrains”.
After being worked by the merrandier, who will keep only 20% of the tree, the noble wood, our stave (“merrain”) from oak trees is air dried directly at the cooperage. The Châtillonnais, despite its forest, offer an ideal climate for maturation. The omnipresence of rain, wind, fog, as well as an average temperature that is lower than in Dijon and Beaune allow a 100% natural maturation of the wood. At every step of the production process, we want to let nature do its job, and take our time so we don’t affect the wood’s properties. This proximity gives us the possibility to track changes in the development of the “merrains” in real-time. During the maturation, the oak tree will grow from 70% to 80% of humidity to 14% to 16%. The tannins which are at-risk to affect the wine get evacuated. Before the transformation, we make another strict selection, because the air drying can make new flaws appear. The perfect wood can finally be crafted.
