Making red wine is a long and demanding process. This is particularly true of Bordeaux wines, the secret of whose inimitable style lies to a great extent in their ageing and blending. Before these two stages the grapes are carefully vinified, with a minimum of one year between harvest and bottling the finished wine. This work is done by our team in close collaboration with the Baron de Lestac grower-partners; read on to find out more.
During harvest, the grapes picked in selected parcels are taken straight to the cellar. The first stage of vinification is destemming (in other words, removing the berries from the stalks). The berries are then gently crushed to let their juice flow, using a mechanical process known as foulage (crushing).
The berries (including the flesh, pips and skins) are then put into temperature-controlled tanks with the yeast that will transform the sugar into alcohol. The fermentation process begins within a few hours but can last as long as two or three weeks. During this time our grower-partners do regular pump overs: this means pumping the juice from the bottom of the tank back up to the top, returning it onto the solid cap formed by the grape skins.
This process is closely supervised by our winemaker and the Baron de Lestac technical team, and is punctuated by testing and frequent tasting. When all the sugar has been transformed into alcohol, the fermentation is finished and it is time for the next stage, namely devatting: the juice at the bottom of the tank is drained off, and the remaining skins are pressed to extract more juice. Malolactic fermentation takes place, and the vinification process is nearly finished. The wine is taken to the barrel cellar to be aged.
This process is closely supervised by our winemaker and the Baron de Lestac technical team, and is punctuated by testing and frequent tasting. When all the sugar has been transformed into alcohol, the fermentation is finished and it is time for the next stage, namely devatting: the juice at the bottom of the tank is drained off, and the remaining skins are pressed to extract more juice. Malolactic fermentation takes place, and the vinification process is nearly finished. The wine is taken to the barrel cellar to be aged.
Our red wines are both made from Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a smaller amount of Cabernet Franc, using the same vinification process, Baron de Lestac red wine and Les Hauts de Lestac. However, each wine has its own personality, not just because they come from different places but because they have their own individual ageing and blending process.
Both wines are aged in our barrel cellar in the traditional manner. This means using oak barrels, for at least six months for our Bordeaux, and 10 months for our Haut-Médoc Les Hauts de Lestac.
The famous Bordeaux chateaux have made barrel ageing an art, and Baron de Lestac has most certainly mastered it. We use American barrels to give our red Bordeaux a fine, elegant touch of oak, and French oak for our Haut-Médoc to provide excellent ageing potential; our cellar master gives a great deal of thought and attention to the ageing of Baron de Lestac wines.
Once the cellar master's work is done, our winemaker steps in to enhance our red wines with her skills. Ageing is important, but Bordeaux winemaking is also the result of subtle blending, combining wines from different parcels, different grape varieties and different barrels. Baron de Lestac red is a case in point: it is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc wines which mature in barrels of different ages. The same varieties are used to make Les Hauts de Lestac but in different proportions, and using only wines that come from the prestigious Haut-Médoc appellation area.
Winemaking is a complex process comprising several key stages. First, grapes are harvested, sorted, and then destemmed. Next, the grapes are pressed to extract the juice, which then undergoes fermentation with either natural or added yeast. For red wines, maceration occurs, where the must remains in contact with the skins to extract color and tannins. After alcoholic fermentation, the wine often undergoes malolactic fermentation. Then it is aged in barrels (such as Bordeaux barrels for our Baron de Lestac wine) or tanks before bottling.
Bordeaux wines are renowned for their blend of several grape varieties showcasing the diversity of terroirs. The primary red grape varieties include Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc, while white varieties include Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle.
The average duration of maceration in the production of red wine varies depending on the desired style. It can range from a few days to several weeks. This process influences the color, tannins, and aromas of the wine, and winemakers adjust the duration based on the characteristics they seek.
The main grape varieties in red Bordeaux wines are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. These grapes are often used in blends with other varieties, including Cabernet Franc and sometimes Petit Verdot to create balanced, complex wines showing off the different terroirs in the region. Read this article to learn everything about the red grape varieties of Bordeaux.
