in the cellar : After destalking and crushing the grapes, the mash was fermented in open tanks for between 5 and 14 days on the skins. The cap of skins was punched down and mixed with the juice 8 to 10 times per day to ensure maximum extraction of colour, tannin and flavours. After completion of the alcoholic fermentation, the free-run wine was drawn off and the skins were gently presses in a hand-operated basket press. The press wine was blended with the free-run wine in stainless steel tanks before being transferred to small oak barrels.
Some of the Cabernet Sauvignon and merlot components of this wine were blended and matured together in small (225 litre) barrels – the other components were matured separately. Various barrel to barrel rackings took place – and the wines spent an average of 20 months in barrels (±80% French; 20% American, ±40% 1st & 2nd fill, 60% 3rd, 4th and 5th fill barrels). The wines were racked to and then blended in stainless steel tanks in November 1999.
The blended wine was not cold stabilized and was bottled unfiltered, so tartrate and pigment deposits may form in the bottle and on the cork.