THE MELICOTS

Hello and welcome to the page dedicated to our Cuvée des Mélicots.

The name "Mélicots" comes from the PROVENCAL dialect "Miel-Abricot", which is a local jam.

We thought that the characteristics specific to VIOGNIER, which only constitutes this cuvée, corresponded to this melodious description, with a touch of sun in addition !

The Mélicots plot in TRIANS is unique and exposed “NORTH-EAST”, on the hillside; its area is 0.80 hectares. The vines were planted in 1992. The terroir is clay-limestone, in gravel, a historic terroir known as “Montagne Collapsed”.

We had a mild spring in 2021, then it was a sunny and warm, even scorching, summer.

The Viognier harvest was carried out on September 16, 2022 from 7 a.m. by 13 harvesters. The weather was very nice, with a morning temperature of 13°.

Laurent is on the tractor and the operator. 800 meters separate the picking place from the press and the wine cellar. It's quick, even with a tractor, but you always have to go quickly, even if it's September and it's cooler in the morning, you always have to keep the temperature as low as possible, to limit the oxidation of the grapes .

With each bucket poured, Laurent checks the grapes; This year, no rot or grapillons. It's frank! You still have to remove the leaves and some dry pieces.

The harvest quickly falls into the destemmer to separate the grapes from the stems, they are then crushed, partly opened so that the juice flows into the press.

After this operation, there is 15 hours of maceration in the press with dry ice to prevent oxidation, without adding sulphite at that time.

The color of the Mélicot vintage is lemon yellow with green highlights. It announces good aromatic maturity.
The first nose is immediately aromatic and elegant. We evolve among the fragrances of juicy fruits (peach, apricot), violet and lily on a “nutmeg” background. The expression is seductive. The attack on the palate is well established, broad and soft. Then, the sensation is delicious, full, slightly warm. It produces a comfortable mouthfeel and a caressing texture.
The finish is long (around 10 seconds), round and supple. It coats the palate with a warm note and ends its course with refreshing bitters which signify the vegetal character of the grape variety.
This is a pretty viognier, a difficult grape variety, which shows its lovely character here.
br />Mélicot should be served at a temperature of 8°C in a classic glass. Drink until 2026.

With the presses removed, 13 hectoliters of free-run juice are recovered, which will be settled 72 hours later. Fermentation will take place in 23 days at 15/16°.

Aging on fine lees, in thermo-regulated stainless steel vats, begins for 4 months, then racking with final filtration before bottling.

We make a SO2 adjustment before bottling to have a very low total sulphite level.