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117 Touraine AC 2008/2009 Le Haut Midi
Gérard MarulaGrape:50% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Grolleau (12% alc.)
Gérard Marula produces this extraordinary wine with tiny yields from 60 year old vines in a sandy, clay soil overlying limestone. 100% destalked and vinified in cuve, the grapes are trod by foot for two minutes a day during a three week cuvaison. Aged in cuve with no sulphur, the wine has beautiful fruit, some spice, and fine tannins with an old viney print. For drinking now to 2013.
Technical Information Winemaker: Gérard MARULA Location: Commune de Lerné, Lieu dit “Le Haut Midi” Size of
domaine:1,55 hectares Grape: Cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, grolleau with average age of 50 years, planted at 5,000 vines per hectare density and on 3309 root-stock Terroir: Clay and limestone (Argilo-calcaire) on gentle slopes Viticulture: De-buds but no green-harvest. Grasses are worked mechanically. Plough the soil in the winter (buttage) up to the vines and reverse the process in the spring. Plough during the rest of the season as determined by climatic conditions . Use copper to combat mildew and sulphur for oidium. Pest control very occasionally using plant tisanes. No fertiliser of any sort is used. A careful manual harvest eliminate imperfect fruit. Yield at 35 h/h Vinification: Grapes are de-stemmed but not crushed. Fermentation in glass fibre cuve with natural yeasts (at 15 to 22°C) lasts for around 6 months. Pigeage once every two days during the three week maceration. The wine is de-canted from cuve before the end of the alcoholic fermentation to avoid extraction. A vertical basket press is used and the press wine is added straight back to the assemblage. Cellars are not heated for the malo-lactic. Élevage is in cuve for 10 months without batonnage and with one racking. No fining or filtration. One domaine bottling in August using natural cork 44x 24 which are organically certified. Organic certification with Qualité France. Production is 5,000 bottles. Press: