Marine Bonnet & Pierre Cotton
The estate is located on the hill of Brouilly, in the heart of the Côte de Brouilly appellation. It is a family estate and we are the 5th generation of winegrowers.
Agronomy side:
We cultivate 13 ha, in organic farming. And we have been planting trees around and in our vines for 3 years now, around 500 trees/year. We also set up plant cover in addition to plowing with a tractor. The goal being, in the long term, to no longer have to plow.
We use herbal treatments (fermented extracts, decoctions, maceration, oxygenated tea etc.) in addition to small amounts of copper and sulfur.
We practice intaglio. We are part of the association "Vigneron.ne.s du Vivant en Beaujolais" as well as 22 other areas of Beaujolais. This allows us to exchange and progress on the subject of agroforestry and agroecology in general.
Cellar side:
The harvest is done manually, over ten days. The pickers are housed and fed at the estate.
The grapes are picked up in boxes to keep the integrity of the grapes.
They are then placed in a cold room, then incubated the next day in large concrete vats.
Cold grapes will start the fermentation process very slowly, which will allow for a gentle extraction, preserving the fruity side of the wine.
Carbonic maceration (with the addition of carbon dioxide) is done in whole bunches for more or less 15 days. Fermentation takes place spontaneously, using native yeasts.
Then the grapes are pressed and finish their fermentation in concrete vats.
Then, once the fermentation is complete, the wines are taken down to the cellar where they rest between 6 and 9 months in old oak casks (over 100 years old).
They are then bottled in spring or early summer.