The Art of Winemaking
Our wines are created with an uncompromising and passionate focus on quality and attention to detail in all aspects of the winemaking process. This permits the wine and the vineyard to express their true potential.
Winemaking is done in different tanks according to the various kinds of grapes and plots of land where the grapes have come from to respect each terroir's specificity. Most of our wine processing equipment and tanks are imported, mainly from Italy, which is known as one of the best stainless steel cellar equipment manufacturers.
In addition, the winemaking method is finely orchestrated and monitored by the world-famous wine consultant Michel Rolland to give the wines discrete style and balance.
Our process also involves:
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Meticulous grape selection on sorting tables
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Whole-bunch pressing technique to preserve the freshness and maintain the softness of the wine.
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New Oak Barrels are aged for our premium wines, which gives them interesting spice, vanilla, or even smoky aromas.
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Discover our winemaking process:
Chêne
Chêne combines Spain’s most famous grape Tempranillo (55%) and the Shiraz grape (45%). Before the last blending, all the steps are performed separately for both grape varieties. Red grapes for Chêne are delicately crushed and transferred to the tank without pressing. The juice is left in contact with the skins and seeds to garner color, tannins, and flavors. Then, it is sent ahead for stabilization.
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Once stabilization and fermentation are completed, the maceration process begins. For Chêne, this process is longer than for regular red wines. Chêne wine is in contact with the pomace for up to 40 days to extract more tannin, which gives the wine an intense ruby color. Tannins add flavor and structure to the wine.
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Furthermore, regular pumping is done during fermentation and maceration for optimum extraction of color and tannin. After the maceration, the skins and wine are separated. 'Free run juice' is the first version of the wine, which is taken straight out of the tank. It is very light in terms of color and tannins. The remaining remains from the tank (skins, seeds, deposit) are sent to the pneumatic press. The wine obtained now has a much deeper red color and has more tannin. This darker wine is called the' press juice'. The two juices are blended to obtain a more homogenous wine.
Next, the natural deposits and the lees need to be removed. This is done by racking, a clarification process. Chêne goes through more than ten racking cycles until the wine is completely clear. Since all grape varieties don't react similarly to the processes, each variety goes through separate steps according to its needs. The Tempranillo and Shiraz wines are blended for more homogeneity at this stage.
Our Grand Réserve wine ages for an extended period of 15 to 20 months in new oak barrels. This enables it to obtain luscious nuances of vanilla and cinnamon. Before bottling, a last racking and a filtration are done to ensure the optimum quality of Chêne in your glass.
La Réserve
La Réserve is made from 80% Cabernet Sauvignon (the grape of the famous Bordeaux wines) and 20% Shiraz, both from our oldest vines. The grapes are delicately crushed and sent to the fermentation stainless steel tank without pressing. The juice is left in contact with its skins to garner color, tannins, and flavors. Thus, the juice produced goes through stabilization.
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Temperature stabilization is done by cooling the juice at 22°C for 24 hours, which, as we saw in making red winemaking, is suitable for fermentation. Adding Yeast initiates alcoholic fermentation (22°C to 27°C).
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Once fermentation is completed, maceration begins. Like red wines, tannin extraction is done with the help of pomace, which gives the La Réserve its intense garnet-purple color. Color is also extracted through regular pumping.
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“Free-run juice” is obtained after the skins are removed. “Press juice” is produced after the skins and deposits are further removed in the pneumatic press. The two juices are blended to obtain a more homogenous wine. In this case, the clarification process is also used to remove natural deposits. The racking cycles for La Réserve have been increased to 10.
From here on, all steps are done separately for each grape variety according to individual needs. At this stage, we blend the Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz wines to achieve more homogeneity. The blended premium wine ages for a minimum of 6 months in new oak barrels, which enables it to obtain delicious chocolate, coffee beans, and vanilla aromas. Before bottling, a last racking and filtration are done to ensure the optimum quality. La Réserve is now ready to be bottled.
Red Wine
The wine-making process of red wine differs from that of white wine. After meticulous hand-picking, our grapes go to the sorting table, where unwanted elements like unripe grapes or leaves are removed. After this hand selection, we use a de-stemmer to avoid the greenish aromas and water that the stems give off.
Red grapes are delicately crushed and sent to the fermentation stainless steel tank without pressing. The juice is left in contact with its skins to garner color, tannins, and flavors. Thus, the juice produced goes through stabilization.
Temperature stabilization is done by cooling the juice at 22°C for 24 hours, conditions more suitable for red wine fermentation. Stainless steel tanks are used for this. Yeast is added to induce alcoholic fermentation, which starts at 22°C and stops around 27°C. A lot of CO2 is also produced, and the tanks are left open until fermentation is completed.
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Once the fermentation is complete, the maceration process begins. We leave the wine in contact with the pomace or marc, which includes skins, pulp, and seeds, for 20 days to extract more color and tannins. Tannins bring flavor and structure to red wines. Regular pumping is also done to ensure the optimum extraction of color and tannins during both fermentation and maceration.
After the maceration process, skins and wine are separated. The first wine we obtain from the tank is "free run juice," which is very light in color and tannins. All that remains in the tanks, like skins, seeds, and deposits, go to the pneumatic press. The wine thus obtained has a much deeper and darker red color and more tannins. This is called the "press juice." Our winemakers blend those two wines together to obtain a more homogeneous wine.
Clarification, like white wines, removes the natural deposit or lees. The' racking' process requires transferring fermented juice from one tank to another. Reds at Grover typically go through 8 to 10 racking cycles until the wine is cleared.
The next step is Malolactic fermentation. This fermentation transforms malic acid, which gives the wine a sensation of greenness, into Lactic Acid, which reduces the wine's astringency and increases the color of red wines. Malolactic fermentation reduces acidity and 'softens' the wine's tannins.
Rosé Wine
Our rosé wines are produced from red Shiraz grapes.
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For all our wines, we use a sorting table to keep only the best fruits; the stems are removed to avoid any greenish and herbaceous aromas. What makes rosé wine different from red wine is the limited contact the juice has with the skins and seeds—as little as a few hours. When the juice reaches a bright light cherry or salmon color, it is removed from skin contact using a pneumatic press.
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Rosé winemaking uses precisely the same techniques as for white wine. The juice is moved to stainless steel tanks for stabilization. The next step is fermentation, in which yeasts transform the sugar naturally present into alcohol. To retain maximum freshness, our rosé wines do not undergo malolactic fermentation. After the clarification process, through 5 to 6 racking cycles, the wine is filtered and is finally ready to be bottled.
Sparkling Wine
The “Methode Traditionnelle” makes the highest-quality sparkling wines of the three methods of producing sparkling wines. The first step to producing a sparkling wine is a still white or rosé wine. This depends on whether it’s intended for the Zampa Soirée Brut made from Chenin Blanc or the Zampa Soirée Brut Rosé made from Shiraz. This is called base wine. We harvest it a bit earlier to have a higher acidity, which gives that crispness to the wine. For our Zampa Soirée Brut, the grapes go directly to the press, and for our Zampa Soirée Brut Rosé, the skin is kept in contact for an hour with the juice to give it a light pale red color and red fruity aromas before going to press.
The juice is filled into stainless steel tanks for stabilization. Temperature stabilization is done by cooling the juice between 10°C and 15°C for 24 hours, which is more suitable for the white and rosé wine fermentation. Yeasts are added to induce alcoholic fermentation. The action of the yeasts is to transform the sugar naturally contained in the grape juice into alcohol.
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The next step is malolactic fermentation, in which malic acid is converted into lactic acid. After a clarification process, we bottle the wine in traditional sparkling bottles. We add yeasts and sugar into the bottle: this is called “liqueur de tirage.” We put the “bidule” and cork the bottle with a cap for a while. When yeasts come in contact with sugar, fermentation starts. We obtain those fine and natural bubbles during this second fermentation and put them into the bottle. Temperature is essential during this stage; the cooler the fermentation, the finer the bubbles in the finished product. We store the bottles close to the oak barrels in our temperature-controlled cellar.
After this second fermentation, dead yeast cells break down and settle at the bottom or attach to the side of the bottle. At this point, it is determined how long the wine will remain “en tirage” or on the yeast. Extended yeast contact gives the wine a “yeasty” characteristic and complicates secondary flavors. Once the desired time has passed, the sediment must be removed without losing the sparkle.
The first step is riddling or remuage. We use a riddling machine that methodically turns the bottle from a horizontal to an upside-down vertical position. The goal is to collect the sediments in the neck of the bottle to remove them more easily. This is done by quickly freezing the bottle’s neck in a freezing bath. The pressure will push out the bidule with sediments in the frozen plug by removing the cap. This is called disgorgement. After disgorgement, the bottle is empty and filled with a tiny amount of wine and sugar, depending on the sweetness we want in our final sparkling wine. The wine is finally ready to be corked.
WhiteWine
While red wines are fermented with grape skins and seeds, white wines are fermented using only clear grape juice. From our vineyards to our cellar, meticulous grape selection is essential to ensure the use of the best-quality grapes. After going through the sorting table, where our team carefully removes the unwanted berries or leaves, our grapes are fully de-stemmed to avoid greenish aromas and to get only the best fruits. Thus, the best wine is provided to you.
The next step is pressing, separating the juice from the skins. In the case of white wine, grapes are pressed quickly to separate the juice from the skin, seeds, and other solids. The juice produced then undergoes stabilization.
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The juice is filled into stainless steel tanks for stabilization. Temperature stabilization is done by cooling the juice between 10°C and 15°C for 24 hours (conditions suitable for the white wine fermentation). Yeasts are added to induce alcoholic fermentation. The action of yeasts is to transform the sugar naturally contained in the grape juice into alcohol. A lot of CO2 is also produced, so it is essential to leave the tanks open until the fermentation is finished. Once the fermentation is completed, depending on the style of wine we want, the wine is aged in either stainless steel or oak barrels. Next, the clarification process begins.
Clarification is done by transferring the fermented juice from one tank to another to remove the natural deposit or lees. This process is called racking. Our whites typically go through 5 to 6 racking cycles until the wine is cleared.
The next step is not necessarily done for all white wines but all red wines. This is called Malolactic Fermentation. This fermentation is not about alcohol; it is about transforming the malic acid into Lactic Acid. It reduces and ‘softens’ the acidity of the wine. Depending on the acidity level of our white wines, we may apply this step to give them more softness.
Before bottling, one filtration is done to ensure the optimum quality of our wines in your glass. Our white wines are now ready to be bottled.