From one November to the next, from pruning to grape-picking, the Domaine Aubrespy wine production follows a tradition which answers our international clientele’s demands for quality, traceability and taste. That is why Jacques Aubrespy has adapted his wine production to allow each type of vine to reach maturity whilst maintaining the greatest respect for Nature. The wine specialist on site throughout the year said, “Oneology reminds us how far we can go in natural wine production without using additives”. Jacques Aubrespy oversees the cultivation of his wine, chooses his assemblages and ensures that his white wine, rosé wine and red wine all take on their full bouquet and colour.
By using new types of vine, especially Roussanne, Syrah, Carignan Grenache and, of course, the incomparable Viognier, Jacques Aubrespy is able to offer the knowledgeable wine-lover a range of excellent wines each with its own specific personality. Domaine Aubrespy wines suit straightforward wine-tasting as well as serving as the perfect accompaniment to the most refined cuisine.
Wine-growing starts from around the 15th of November, the approximate date at which the leaves fall and the sap rises. It is the moment when the Master, who has some sixty years’ experience in the vineyards, begins the pruning. Quality, the objective, is achieved by hard pruning. Apart from the trellised vines which are pruned into a goblet shape with an open centre, all the others are royat cordon pruned to produce the best quality wine. Weeding is done from November to the end of March, just before the leaves appear. As Jacques Aubrespy does not endorse the use of chemical products, he limits their use.
Then he moves on to the ploughing. Finally, the vines are tied to the cordons and the essential treatment for oidium, mildew and orange efflorescence is undertaken. We often imagine wine-growers in their vineyards during the grape-picking but, in fact, repairing ties, digging out dead or old stumps and planting new vines takes up most of their time. So, it is not unusual to see Jacques Aubrespy very late at night in his wine-making cellar when all the grape pickers have long before gone home. He is also the first to get out the tractor, to get the grape-picking tools ready and to start dealing with the vines. The choice of vines planted, their assemblage and the care given to them by the vineyard’s own wine specialist ensure impeccable quality. Like the wine-maker himself, his wines are respectful and stringent whilst remaining supple and generous. In order to be able to control the process from start to finish, Jacques Aubrespy chose to bottle his wine on his property.
It is a real pleasure to take a break while wine-picking to savour the white wine with “pélardon” goat cheese or to taste the Grenache Carignan red wine which reveals all its tannin and hidden contrasts in its pulp.
The Domaine Aubrespy, a relatively new vineyard, has already received several prizes:
Its red AOC wine is listed in the 2008 Hachette wine guide and its white AOC was chosen to be among the “grès de Montpellier” wines for 2005.