“Once the white wine grapes have been harvested, our team of pickers is ready for the red wine grapes. Picking usually begins in mid-September with Merlot, followed by Cabernet (which ripens later) in the first half of October.”

 
“Sorted three times”
 

“A preliminary sorting is carried out in the vineyard to remove clearly damaged grapes as well as any that have skins with paler highlights, a sign of insufficient ripeness. This sorting is done by the pickers. The grapes are then gone over again on a special sorting table. After destemming, yet another sorting is done, literally grape by grape. This eliminates any unripe grapes that may have been hidden inside the bunches…”

“The grapes are then gone over again on a special sorting table. After destemming, yet another sorting is done, literally grape by grape. This eliminates any unripe grapes that may have been hidden inside the bunches…”

 

 
“Once sorted, the grapes are gently crushed and put into vat in order to keep the skins as whole as possible. This is because the skins are responsible for the quality of tannin in red wine. The very innovative technique of filling vats by gravity flow, without pumping, is used at Chevalier.”Oliver Bernard