This one hectare plot of ungrafted vines was planted in 1982 in collaboration with INRA. It was replanted in half in 1992 and 1995.
Located on the same terroir as the Varennes du Grand Clos, the Varennes Franc de Pied are vinified separately in the vintages that seem to best distinguish their typicity.
This experiment should allow us to rediscover the typicality of the Cabernet Franc from before grafting, with the risk of seeing phylloxera reappear...
We limit the yield of this plot to 30 hl/ha.

Cold pre-fermentation maceration (10°C) for 10 days, a minimum of 4 weeks of vatting, vinification temperatures below 21°C and numerous well-adapted pump-overs (watering of the cap of marc) and pigeage (cap of marc formed in the upper part of the vat and pushed into the liquid part) are necessary to reveal the complexity of this cuvee.

At the end of the alcoholic fermentation, free-run wines and the best press wines are blended for malolactic fermentation in barrels. The French oak barrels that accompany the maturation of Varennes du Grand Clos are partially renewed each year to obtain a melted and integrated maturation. The barrel stock is composed of a few new barrels and barrels of 1 to 4 wines.

This cuvée continues its maturation in our cellars, in oak barrels for 15 to 16 months depending on the vintage.

After racking and the final blending between the barrels, Les Varennes du Grand Clos will be aged en masse (the wine will rest in the vat) for 6 months, before being bottled and brought to market.

Long-keeping wines, the Varennes nevertheless assert themselves from their youth by their finesse and elegance.