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The vineyard

The Gratiot family’s key to success lies in mastering the quality of their grapes.

Concerned about respecting the environment, GRATIOT Gérard Champagne has adopted sustainable viticulture practices :

  • A pruning method which focuses on quality rather than quantity.
  • Choice of grape varieties and graft rootstock depending on the particular plot of land.
  • Soil analyses are carried out every other year, to determine whether the soil requires enrichment (bark, compost….).

  • Vegetation cover aims at combating erosion and maintaining soil bacteriological activity.

 

 

  • Close to harvesting time, we check for the maturity of the grapes by picking samples of grapes from each plot of land, in order to pick the grapes when they have reached perfect maturity.

 

  • Our grape pickers pick the grapes by hand only, which allows them to make "a qualitative selection". The whole harvesting process is carefully controlled, to preserve grapes in a perfect state up until they reach the pressing stage. For Champagne, the bunches of grapes must remain whole up to the pressing stage. This ensures that the two red varieties do not impart a red coloration to the white juice the grapes contain.