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ENTER INTO THE LITTLE SECRETS OF THE VOUVRAY WINES
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In the hollow of the Vallée Coquette, the pretty flowered façade of the Cave des Producteurs de Vouvray hides the bowels of the earth. You are going to enter into the little secrets of the great wines of Vouvray through the door of an incredible labyrinth of more than two kilometers (1.2 miles) of subterranean galleries. |
These were formerly quarries, dug into the limestone, from which came the white stone used to construct the magnificent châteaux of the Loire Valley and the elegant homes of the region (map of our cellars)
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In these fascinating passageways, the temperature remains constant at 13°C. Here our wines develop their fine light bubbles. More than 4 million bottles age in the coolness and obsurity for the 12 months required to develop the magical bubbles. |
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Each day, with a sure hand, our "turners" turn the bottles a quarter of a turn on the pupitres. They can turn up to 12,000 bottles an hour. This movement slowly works the sediment, resulting from the fermentation, down onto the cork.
(Picture of the sediment) | A month of turning is required to accomplish this. |
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Tradition and modernity: in these thermo-regulated stainless steel vats the must is fermented and assemblages (the blending of wines of the same vintage) are done. Here are hidden the secrets which give the vintages of the Cave des Producteurs their character. | You have left the troglodytic cellar for the ultra-modern air-conditioned wine storehouse. (bottling line picture)
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The bottles are brought here, neck down, after turning for the dégorgement. The sediment, worked down on the cork, is frozen and easily removed. The bottle then receives the required quantity of liqueur produced from old specially preserved wines. |
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| It is then corked and a muselet or muzzlelike cap of wire is placed on top to hold the cork in the bottle.
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All that is left is to put on the label and the capsule before leaving these bottles to their destiny. They will surely soon join some joyous table. It's the moment to try "this wine of taffetas that rejoices the heart": the wine tasting area welcomes you, the shop tempts you... oh, go ahead...
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The wine tasting area welcomes you, the shop tempts you... oh, go ahead... |
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