Video sequence of the desteming of muscat grapes for a 12 hours skin contact

From Thursday on until the end of the week the aromatic grape varieties will have our full attention. We start receiving the first lots of gewurztraminers both from our contract growers located mainly for this grape south of Colmar in clay and limestone soils. The ripening levels are excellent with an average close to 13° and perfectly sound grapes. In our domaine too we bring in with a reduced team small plots the periphery of our best terroirs of Riquewihr.

Friday is the day when our growers under contract are invited to harvest the Muscat verietal. As far as we are concerned, only about 2 hectares are planted with this grape whose production can be capricious. Because of the limited quantities and particular winemaking for muscat we must receive all of the production over 2 days at the beginning of the harvest.

We also harvest for the first time since 1978 a plot of muscat from our own domaine. Because of its youth, this vineyard will not be vinified separately. Certainly in a few years, with the production of another plot of muscat (variety of muscat d'Alsace a petits grains, both white and red) located in the Schoenenbourg we will be making a special cuvee of this grape.

We proceed, this year again, thanks to perfectly healthy grapes to a 12 hours of skin contact for muscat. The purpose of this process is to exacerbate the primary flavours of this varietal. After 12 hours of maceration the juice is released by a gentle pressing. Our mechanist Marc Kauffmann is proud to have taken part in the design of an elevator which lifts and tips in only one operation the grape containers weighing from 120 to 150 kg. This operation must be renewed 1200 times per day at the peak of the harvest.