The Joël REMY’s Estate counts 13 hectares (32 acres) of vineyards distributed on the Communes of:

Sainte-Marie-La-Blanche, Chorey-Lès-Beaune, Savigny-Les-Beaune, Beaune, Aloxe-Corton, Pommard in one vine-growing district called Côte de Beaune, in Burgundy.

From the vine to the wine:

 Analyses of soil made regularly, in rotation on all the grounds of the Joël REMY’s Estate, allow to optimize the nutritional contribution necessary for our vines for the expression of the terroir.

 The sanitary protection is made in narrow collaboration with the technicians of the various wine technical bodies which supervise us.

 The Integrated Farming, the respect for the soil and for the environment, are the growing practices applied to all the vines of the Joël REMY’s Estate, the main grape varieties are Aligoté, Chardonnay, Gamay, Pinot Noir. Vines as you know are the most densely planted in the world: 10 000 plants per hectare (4000/acre).

 A work of plowing, which we consider indispensable, helps the root development in depth and the microbial life of the soil.

 Most are trained low along wire according to the simple Guyot system.

 A severe de-suckering is carried out in order to limit the potential crop in terms of bunches, that favours the concentration.

The branches trained up to 1.35 meter (1.48 yd) height are cut in order to support the sunning between rows and to support photosynthesis.

 Green-harvesting is applied to individually by the personnel of the Estate to reduce potential crop levels.

Harvesting:

 All the vines of the Estate are hand harvested by our team of harvesters, diligent for several years and formed in the requirements of the Joël REMY’s Estate.

 Harvest is carried out in cases from 30 to 35 kg (66.0 to 77.0 lb) in order to avoid to the maximum crushing of the grapes in seen sorting and weightings to control the tank yields.

 The grapes pass on the sorting table where 8 people preserve only the best bunches which will be sent out of tank or to the press.

From wine to the bottle:

 White Wine Vinification:

The sorted vintage is put at the press. A soft and progressive tightening of the grapes is carried out in order to optimize the extraction of the juice.

Extracted must at once is cooled and cleansed during 48 hours before being put in the French oak barrels. Natural yeast fermentation proceeds during 8 to 12 weeks. Controls, lees stirring*, ventilation and chaptalization* intervene during the wine making.

Red Wine Vinification:

A total and systematic de-stemming* is practised on the vintage. The grapes put out of tank are cooled (8 up to 10°C) during 5 to 8 days in order to support the extraction of the colour. A progressive rise in the temperature up to 16 ° C activates fermentation. The natural yeasts present on the grape skins will transform sugar into alcohol and will support the extraction of the matter. Various operations: punching down*, pumping over*, control of the temperatures and chaptalization* (if necessary) are carried out at the time of this fermentation which lasts 12 to 14 days. After racking, a soft and slow pressing will be followed of a decanting of a few days which will finish this wine making before the setting out of French oak cask.

Ageing in French Oak Barrel:

 Each year we carry out a selection, in close cooperation with our cooper, Mr. GILLET, of the best stave woods of its exploitation and practise a heating "house". These new barrels of oak, built according to our qualitative criteria will come to be added to the parts of the previous years in a percentage from 30 to 50% following the year, in order to raise our wines according to our principles of excellence.

This ageing, on lees*, during which will proceed malo-lactic fermentation, will continue during approximately 12 months, during which we will put all in to produce high-class wines.

Our white wines are racked in order to eliminate the fine lees and carbon dioxide, then fined* to support their expression.

Bottling:

 Before this operation, the white wines are filtered and passed to the cold to ensure tartaric stabilization*. The red wines from French oak barrel are racked and blended, then stored out of watertight tanks without filtration.

The bottling is entirely carried out by our care with the field Joël REMY.

The filling of the bottles is carried out by depression with levelling with vacuum nitrogen and stopping in order to optimize the quality of our work.

A storage of case-pallet during 12 hours before stacking will make it possible the cork to take again all its qualities and will thus avoid many problems of stopping.

Glossary:

*Lees stirring helps round out the mid-palate of the young wines, while integrating the toasty oak flavours from the barrels.

*Chaptalization or sugaring allows the production of full, rich wines with sufficient alcohol levels to give them balance.

*De-stemming, the process of removing grape stems prior to fermentation so that, during fermentation, bitter tannins in the stems won't transfer to the wine and make it harsh.

*Punching down, a process of pushing the cap down into the juice during fermentation to facilitate extraction of colour, flavour, and tannins and to ensure that the cap doesn't dry out and develop unwanted bacteria. Workers use a long paddle to punch the cap down.

*Pumping over, a process of pumping juice over the cap during fermentation to expedite extraction of colour, flavour, and tannins and to ensure that the cap doesn't dry out and develop unwanted bacteria.

*On lees, the heavy, coarse sediment that accumulates during fermentation and ageing. Lees primarily consists of dead yeast cells and small grape particles. Winemakers believe that certain wines benefit from being aged sur lie. Chardonnay wines are thought to gain complexity if aged in this way for a few months.

*Fining, a winemaking process that removes microscopic elements such as protein particles that would cloud the wine and phenolic compounds like tannins that could cause bitterness and astringency.