Our organic vineyard in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and Bourgueil
Two appellations, two terroirs
11 hectares in the Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil AOP
Most of the soils consist of ancient alluvial deposits (sand) that lend the wine suppleness and elegance.
4 hectares in the Bourgueil AOP
There are three types of soil here: mostly clay-limestone, as well as sand and silt. This gives the wine more character.
Vineyard Management in Organic Farming
Vineyard management varies depending on the terroir. We practice grass cover in every other row. We use mechanical methods 100% of the time to work our soil and enrich it naturally with organic matter: by chipping vine shoots, adding grape pomace, plowing, and even sowing other plant species that won’t compete with the vines.
Pruning and Debudding
Single Guyot training, as well as manual debudding—an important task that helps determine the yield and quality of the grapes.
Winter Footwear
This technique involves piling up a small mound of soil to cover the base of the vine and the grass growing there. This protects the base of the vine from severe frosts and eliminates the grass without the need for herbicides…
Thinning
This involves cutting the still-green grape clusters before the harvest to optimize quality.
Striptease
This involves aerating the area around the grape clusters, which helps prevent rot and, as a result, improves the quality of the wine.
Pest Control Treatments
We no longer use synthetic chemicals. Only copper and sulfur are permitted in organic farming.
Winemaking and Aging
Wine production takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. These tanks make it easy to monitor alcoholic and malolactic fermentation.
We have several very important factors that allow us to customize our wines:
- The vintage effect: each is vinified differently
- Maceration time
- Fermentation temperatures that allow tannins to be extracted and then bound.
- Pumping over, which enhances the wine's aromas, color, and body.
- The ripeness of the grapes varies considerably from year to year; it is essential to take this into account to avoid over-extracting tannins with vegetal organoleptic characteristics.
For aging, we have a few oak barrels that allow us to age the wines in select vintages while respecting the vintage and the terroir.
- 1379 route du Carroi Taveau Lieu-dit Chevrette37140 ST NICOLAS DE BOURGUEIL
- vins.cognard@orange.fr
- 02 47 97 76 88