Domaine Name Azienda Vitivinicola Pavese Ermes Family/Owners Name Pavese How many years has the family owned the 17 domaine? How many generations? 1 How many hectares of vines are leased? 1 How many hectares of vines are owned? 5 Are your vineyards or wines Organic or No Biodynamic Certified? If yes, in the EU? In the US? If no, are you in the process of becoming certified? Describe your vineyard management practices (e.g. low-intervention, organic, biodynamic, standard, etc.). Do you practice green harvest? Leaf thinning? How do you fertilize? Do you do field work and harvest manually? By machine? By horse? Do you sell off any of your wine en vrac/allo sfuso? Do you typically sell or buy any grapes? All treatments are organic. We do not use desiccants. Number of annual treatments: approximately 3 or 4. Horse manure (in the vineyards, on a rotation basis) We harvest manually. I purchase about 5 tons of grapes from a wine grower who follows the same grape growing methods. We don't sell grapes.
WINE #1 GENERAL Appellation Valle D'Aosta DOP - Blanc de Morgex et de la Salle 2015 Cepage/Uvaggio Prié Blanc % Alcohol by volume 0.12 # of bottles produced Approximately 16,000 Grams of Residual Sugar Less than 1 gram per liter VINEYARD AND GROWING Exposures and slope of vineyards The configuration of the land in Valle d Aosta is characterized by a sunny area (adrèt) on the left side of the Dorathe. the Dora Baltea river and a shady area (revers) on the right side of the same river. The vineyards of "prié blanc" are all located in the adrèt area. Soil Types(s) Mountain sand - morainic soil Average vine age (per vineyard) Between 3 and 50 years old Average Vine Density (vines/ha) Approximately 800 plants per hectare Approximate harvest date(s) September 1-7, 2015. Early harvesting (usually, harvesting starts in the third or fourth week of September). July was very warm and very dry and the grapes suffered from the lack of rain. One week in mid-august was very rainy. Very narrow range of temperatures. 50% reduction in production. Definitely, an unusual albeit not
WINEMAKING/CELLAR whole cluster, % destemmed, % Fermentation: vessel type and size Duration of contact with lees Select or indigenous yeast? Please describe wine making process for EACH wine such as: pump-overs, punchdowns, racking, movement/transfer of wine done by gravity or pumping?), battonnage, malolactic fermentation allowed, chaptalization Elevage: vessel type(s) and size(s) Duration of elevage Duration of bottle ageing before release to US market Do you practice fining and filtration? If yes, please describe Do you add sulfur? If so when and how much? How much sulfur remains in the wine at release? uncommon harvest (also in 2008 harvesting was in the first two weeks of September), with warmer and more intense grapes. No destalking Slow fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats. About 810 days Cultured yeasts on the "blanc de morgex" and international yeasts (depending on the situation). Classic white vinification. All the vats have a mechanical shovel for automatic batonnage for about 7-8 months. The wine remains on the fine lees throughout the whole process. Racking is then done a few times before bottling. 80% Malolactic fermentation. No sugar added. Ageing in large steel vats(min. 5,000 liters, max. 6,400 liters ) and bottles (0.75 liter e 1,5 liter) Minimum 2 months Between 5 and 10 months We use ceramic cross flow filters Sulphites are added before the fermentation, every time the wine is racked and before bottling. Total sulphur dioxide content: 84 milligrams per liter. Well-balanced right away, less acidic and with a good bouquet.
WINE #2 GENERAL Appellation Valle D'Aosta DOP Pavese XVIII Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle Cepage/Uvaggio Prié Blanc % Alcohol by volume 0.13 # of bottles produced About 3,000 Grams of Residual Sugar 1.5 gram per liter VINEYARD AND GROWING Exposures and slope of vineyards The configuration of the land in Valle D'Aosta is characterized by a sunny area (adrèt) on the left side the Dora Baltea river and a shady area (revers) on the right side of the same river. The vineyards of "prié blanc" are all located in the adrèt area. Soil Types(s) Mountain sand -morainic soil Average vine age (per vineyard) Between 3 and 30 years old Average Vine Density (vines/ha) About 800 plants per hectare
Approximate harvest date(s) October 626, 2013. Harvesting was pushed back (usually it starts in the third or fourth week of September). A very cold Summer. Grapes struggled to ripen. September was warm with a nice range of temperatures. It snowed during harvesting. Quantitatively, a remarkable production. The harvest definitely gave us more acidic grapes that were suitable for ageing. WINEMAKING/CELLAR whole cluster, % destemmed, % Fermentation: vessel type and size Duration of fermentation Duration of contact with lees Select or indigenous yeast? Please describe wine making process for EACH wine such as: pump-overs, punchdowns, racking, movement/transfer of wine done by gravity or pumping?), battonnage, malolactic fermentation allowed, chaptalization Elevage: vessel type(s) and size(s) Duration of elevage Duration of bottle ageing before release to US market Do you practice fining and filtration? If yes, please describe Do you add sulfur? If so when and how much? How much sulfur remains in the wine at release? SPARKLING WINES ONLY. Is preparation done in-house or outsourced? No destalking Slow fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats About 10 days From the very beginning and throughout the entire fermentation Cultured yeasts on the "blanc de morgex" and international yeasts Classic white vinification. Automatic batonnage for about 10 months. Wine is racked a few times. Partial malolactic fermentation and addition of sugar for the "prise de mousse" (effervescence). Ageing in steel vats (5,000 liters) and bottles (0.75 liter and 1.5 liter) Minimum 1 month About 5 months We use ceramic cross flow filters During the fermentation, while racking and before bottling. Total sulfur dioxide: 124 milligrams per liter. Perfect vintage for a classic method because of the good acidity of the grapes. For this vintage (2013), we used the grapes with a lower sugar content for the classic method. All the phases of our classic method take place in our cellar. We use a company for bottling and "deblocage" (sale of the new wine; the company comes to our cellar with the bottling line).
What is the dosage? How many months sur lattes? Vinification in method champenoise or charmat? Pavese XVIII : on the yeasts for 18 months. Pavese XXIIII: on the yeasts for 24 months. Pavese XXXIV: on the yeasts for 36 months. No "liqueur d'expedition" (solution of sugar and wine) was added. To fill the bottles, we used wine from the same year. In order to fill Pavese XXIIII and XXXIV, we set aside some Magnum.
WINE #3 GENERAL Appellation Ninive wine from overripe grapes Uvaggio Prié Blanc % Alcohol by volume 0.14 # of bottles produced About 1,000 Grams of Residual Sugar Approximately 40 grams per liter VINEYARD AND GROWING Exposures and slope of vineyards The configuration of the land in Valle D'Aosta is characterized by a sunny area (adrèt) on the left side the Dora Baltea river and a shady area (revers) on the right side of the same river. The vineyards of "prié blanc" are all located in the adrèt area. Soil Types(s) Mountain sand morainic soil Average vine age (per vineyard) Between 3 and 30 years old Approximate harvest date(s) 12/6/2013. Fall was dry, but not too cold. Grapes on the vines were in good condition. For about a week, the temperature was 6 degrees C. Harvesting carried out from 5:00am to 7:00am. Healthier grapes compared to 2011 (2012 wine not produced) WINEMAKING/CELLAR whole cluster, % destemmed, % Fermentation: vessel type and size Duration of contact with lees Duration of contact with the skins No destalking Slow fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats From the very beginning until the end of the fermentation There are no skins in this type of grapes
Select or indigenous yeast? Please describe wine making process for EACH wine such as: pump-overs, punchdowns, racking, movement/transfer of wine done by gravity or pumping?), battonnage, malolactic fermentation allowed, chaptalization Elevage: vessel type(s) and size(s) Duration of elevage Duration of bottle ageing before release to US market Do you practice fining and filtration? If yes, please describe Do you add sulfur? If so when and how much?? International yeasts Frozen grapes are pressed and put into vats. The must is brought to the right temperature for fermentation; frequent manual batonnage and no sugar added. Ageing in small steel vats and bottles (0.50 liter) Minimum a month From 5 to 10 months We use ceramic cross flow filters During the fermentation, while racking and before bottling
WINE #4 GENERAL Appellation Valle D'Aosta DOP Le Sette scalinate Carlo Pavese Blanc de Morgex et de la Salle 2014 Cepage/Uvaggio Prié Blanc % Alcohol by volume 0.13 # of bottles produced 233 Magnum Grams of Residual Sugar 2.0 grams per liter VINEYARD AND GROWING Vineyard/ name(s) and locations Le Sette scalinate Exposures and slope of vineyards The configuration of the land in Valle D'Aosta is characterized by a sunny area (adrèt) on the left side the Dora Baltea river and a shady area (revers) on the right side of the same river. The vineyards of "prié blanc" are all located in the adrèt area. This vineyards grow on terraces. Soil Types(s) Average vine age (per vineyard) Approximate harvest date(s) WINEMAKING/CELLAR Mountainous soil 70 years old September 2026, 2014. Harvesting took place between September 20 and 30, while it was sunny and warm. July was very rainy (29 rainy days), August and September were warm with a good range of temperatures. Good quantity and quality of grapes. Our last harvest was in this vineyard. The grapes were definitely richer that in 2013 and they are comparable with the grapes harvested in 2011.
whole cluster, % destemmed, % Fermentation: vessel type and size Duration of fermentation Duration of contact with lees Duration of contact with the skins Select or indigenous yeast? Please describe wine making process for EACH wine such as: pump-overs, punchdowns, racking, movement/transfer of wine done by gravity or pumping?), battonnage, malolactic fermentation allowed, chaptalization Elevage: vessel type(s) and size(s) Duration of elevage Duration of bottle ageing before release to US market Do you practice fining and filtration? If yes, please describe Do you add sulfur? If so when and how much? How much sulfur remains in the wine at release? No destalking Slow fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats About 10 days From the very beginning and throughout the entire fermentation 48 hours Cultures yeasts for the "blanc de morgex" and international yeasts. Grapes are crushed in the press and left to macerate for approximately 48 hours. The fermentation is delayed by cooling the press with cold running water. After two days, grapes are pressed; frequent manual batonnage and malolactic fermentation. No sugar added. Ageing in small steel vats and bottles (1.50 liter) Minimum one year At least one year We use ceramic cross flow filters During the fermentation, while racking and before bottling. Total sulphur dioxide: 114 milligrams per liter. A good, intense vintage with full bouquet. Better than 2012, but it cannot be compared with 2010. It is a wine that should be evaluated in 4 or 5 years.