PREPARATION

About three weeks before the harvest, Didier CUVELIER, Michel ROLLAND, Isabelle DAVIN (the château's own oenologist), Bruno CLENET (vine manager) and Didier THOMANN (cellar master) go over the whole vineyard, tasting berries to add their personal impressions to the data gathered through analyses.

At this time a careful study is made of the state of health of the grapes in each plot and a harvest plan is set up. During these weeks before and during picking these visual and tasting checks are carried out regularly. They are an essential complement to the sugar content/acidity and tannin/anthocyanin analyses performed in our own laboratory.

At Léoville Poyferré, the date to begin harvesting is decided jointly by the consultant oenologist and the technical team one week before the first bunch is cut.

ACTION

Since 1994, the handpicked bunches are placed delicately in small crates for transport to the vinification cellar. The bunches are sorted by hand before de-stemming and are then sorted a second time mechanically and manually before crushing. Different plots and grape varieties are vatted separately in the 35 stainless steel vats.

Harvesting