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Through a trust agreement, all winegrowers introduced here have agreed on the honor system to comply with a set of precise rules regarding the bottles marketed by Les Nouveaux Bordeaux.
More details about our trust agreement.
About vineyard management
- Think in terms of average load per vine stock to calculate yields.
- When pruning, particular attention will be paid to the morphology of the vinestock (respect the load depending of the strength of the stock, lower the stock if necessary,) the type of grape variety (late pruning for young vines and varieties subject to wood diseases,) the location of patches (late pruning in frost pockets) and the desired yields.
- Bend in order to allow a homogeneous distribution of clusters on the row. Avoid crossing the fruiting canes nd overtightening the bows. When possible, use flat bending for a better spreading of the grapes.
- Disbudding should be used for a better control of yields. This reduces the piling of clusters by facilitating a better ventilation of the grapes.
- Relever au maximum la hauteur du rognage de façon à obtenir une surface foliaire suffisante, garant d'une meilleure maturité des raisins.
- Trim as high as possible in order to get a sufficient leaf surface, which guarantees a better maturity of the grapes.
In July, thin out the leaves on the sunrise side of the vine. This allows for a better sun exposition of clusters (therefore a better concentration in anthocyanins) and for a good ventilation of the grapes and an improved sanitary state.
- Remove the vine shoots as regularly as possible. Remember to check the top of the stocks.
- Follow an organized schedule for phytosanitary treatment within a well thought-out protective policy.
- Apply two anti-rot treatments (at the fall of flowercaps and at mid-flowering.) This will ensure that harvesting will take place when the grapes are ripe, not when the sanitary state demands it.
- Only weed under the row in order to respect the water tables. Avoid total weeding. Use grassing for too vigorous patches.
- Apply fertlilizers carefully while respecting the environment. If the vine lacks vigor, go back to traditional cultivating fashions.
- Get closer to patch management. Regularly check on missing vinestocks. On a yearly basis, follow the evolution of patches: yield, quality and type of harvest. Respect the picking order according to patch ripeness. Make decisions in agreement with your oenologist.
About wine making
- Make sure your equipment and tools obey food standards.
- Use small or average tanks to get closer to patch winemaking. Make sure your tanks are equipped with temperature controls.
- Follow strict hygiene rules in cellars: they should be clean and tidy. All equipment related to harvesting should be cleaned daily (machines, receiving hoppers, tanks, wooden tubs.)
- Ask your oenologist on a regular basis about tasting and checking on fermenting tanks.
- Separate free-run wines from press wines.
About ageing
- Check on the pollution level of your storing cellar.
- Decide on the type of ageing according to the wine potential.
- For wines aged in tanks (Les Nouveaux Bordeaux Fruité)
- • make sure the wines are regularly ventilated.
- • Wait until the end of winter before bottling.
- Regularly check volatile acidity and free sulphur in each tank.
- For wines aged in oak barrels (Les Nouveaux Bordeaux Boisé)
- • Use a pool of barrels with a minimum of 10% new barrels, the remainder having been used at most three times.
- • The ageing period may vary (between 6 and 12 months.)
- • These wines will not be marketed before the month of September following the harvest.
- • Volatile acidity and free sulphur should be regularly checked on samples representative of the various batches of wines.
About packaging
- Filter and/or fine in agreement with your oenologist.
- Before shipping, let the wine rest for at least a month after bottling.
Check the equipment adjustments during bottling: check levels, vacuum, jaws (badly tuned jaws may griff the corks.) Use a stacking table large enough to make sure corks expand before laying the bottles down in the chests. This simple step considerably reduces the number of leaky bottles on pallets.
- Make sure cork quality is adequate.
- Use heavy bottles.
- Do not use retractable caps.
- Use carboard boxes approved by all shipping companies.
- When labelling, adjust your crimper and labelling machine for flawless results. We recommend self-sticking labels.
About ordering and delivery
- For all samples sent to customers, make sure to keep a bottle, should a problem arise.
- Make sure the total sulphur level in a bottle is below 110 mg/l, which is below European standards for red wines.
- You agree that for each planned labelling, we will deliver the number of neck-labels required by the order, so that we may control quality before shipment (visual state, pressure in the bottle, vacuum, state of the cork, tasting, analysis.)
About prices
- Upon signing of the order, prices will remain stable for a minimum of 10 months. All changes in prices should be made known to us one full month before implementation.
About communication
- Inform consumers about your wine and the work in the vines in a complete and honest way. The information should always be written in such a way as to make it clear and accessible to the uninitiated.
- Do your best to reply as quickly and pleasantly as possible to telephone or written requests from consumers.
- Receive customers by appointment if requested.
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