When I would return from school, my first concern would be to go and have a look at my three vines that were planted at the back of our house.
Actually my great-grandfather, my grandmother and my father were able to hand their passion for wine down to me.
The winegrowers profession is exciting. I live one day at a time, always with nature.
And yet, nature is capricious, and there are some years that are easier than others.
The vineyard is a living entity; one has to have respect for it.
I often compare it to a child: when it is sick, one has to look after it, but as it cannot speak, it is for me to observe and find out what is wrong with it.
In spite of this, in the development of my products, I always endeavour to produce the best in order to satisfy my customers as best as possible.
I am thankful to all those who have already placed their trust in me, and I invite all those who do not know me to come and discover Chateau de la Croix.
Acquired in 1870 by the great-grandparents of Mr. FRANCISCO Jean, the current manager, the old farm extended over only 3 hectares of vineyards,
3 hectares of multiple cropping and 12 hectares of woods. Wine was made in 3 wooden vats.
Fifty years later, there were 6 hectares of vineyards following the abandonment of several hectares of less-profitable multiple cropping.
The fermenting cellar was made bigger and the first barrels were purchased.
With half the vineyard destroyed in the frost of 1956, the farmer's (Mr. Francisco) mother replanted the frozen plots of land and purchased
3 hectares of vines on gravelly soil. famille Francisco
In 1963, the first cement vats came into use.
From the 1960s onwards, the area increased by successive purchases.
And thus, in the year 2000 the vineyard extends over 21 hectares of vines and 12 hectares of woods, used for making fence posts (stakes).
The fermenting cellar consists of cement and stainless steel vats. Its storage capacity is more than 4000 hl.
The wine barrel storehouse houses 250 stave oak casks that are replaced 1/3 every year.
Fining using fresh egg white is done 13 months after the harvest, at the time of the new moon.
The average age of the vines is 35 years.
21 hectares of vines are rooted in the argilo-calcareous and gravelly soil of the Medoc region with a sowing density of 7000 vines/hectare.
These vine stocks are pruned into double guyots and vineyards on all our plots are ploughed in order to remove weeds that could be harmful to the health of vine stocks.
taille des pieds de vigne
The choice of the grape variety is important. This is what gives the wine its taste and characteristics.
However, this is only one of the factors that influences taste, as the soil and the winemaking technique are also extremely important factors.
The choice of wine varieties at Chateau de la Croix remains traditional for the Medoc vintage brand:
Cabernet Sauvignon (tannins and colour)
Merlot (suppleness and fruit)
Petit Verdot (alcohol content)
The quality of wine depends on the quality of the grape harvest, affirms Mr. Francisco. Bearing this in mind, we always do harvesting by hand.
Every year, we employ a team of about thirty? grape-pickers for 3 weeks of picking.
Thus selective sorting can be undertaken at several stages: at the vine, in the bucket and finally in the receiving bin upon arrival at the storehouses.
After the grape harvest is received, the seeds and the juice are transported in vats through a network of pipes.
Once the vat is full, it is sealed. The seeds as well as the grape juice remain in the vat for 72 hours: this is called alcoholic soaking.
Alcoholic fermentation begins in about 3 days after the harvest. The process is as follows:
There are several kinds of yeast found on the skin of ripe grapes.
However, there is only one kind that can induce the chemical reaction with grape sugars to produce alcohol.
This yeast multiplies itself very fast in the must during fermentation and reacts with the natural sugars present in the pulp-glucose and fructose.
For this to happen, the juice from the vat is made to flow into a tub to aerate it, it is then pumped to the top of the vat:
this is called aerated recoopering. The recoopering also consists in sinking in the "marc hat" created by the seeds that have risen to the surface of the vat,
thanks to the carbon dioxide in the fermenting wine, to extract colour and tannins from the grapes.
The principal means for the winemaker to conduct fermentations is to control the temperature, as the yeasts are most active in the temperature range of 12 degree to 37 degree.
Actually, Mr. Francisco is equipped with a thermoregulation system that allows him to control the temperature very precisely.
Alcoholic fermentation lasts for about 8 to 10 days, thereafter the wine remains in the vat for 4 to 5 weeks: this is called the soaking period.
In the closed vat, the wine works alone. It is then that malolactic fermentation begins, a second fermentation due to bacteria and not yeasts anymore.
This reduces the acidity of the wine and contributes to its complexity and stability. These are lactic bacteria that transform malic acid into lactic acid.
During alcoholic fermentation, the seeds are made to rise to the surface of the vat thanks to carbon dioxide. Thus, a hat is formed: the marc.
After a long period of soaking of the marc and the juice, the winemaker runs off the first pressings, by opening the tap at the base of the vat,
in order to separate the juice from the marc. This wine is decanted into another vat.
Then it is time for devatting: the marc that has remained in the vat after the first pressings have been discharged is extracted.
This marc is pressed: this gives the press wine, rich in tannins and pigments. It is collected in different proportions, with the first pressings,
to add characteristic and longevity to it.
Maturation of the wine lasts 18 months out of which the wine remains in oak casks for 14 months.
The wine is made two months after the harvest, and then decanted in barrels where it begins to age.
At Chateau de la Croix, we carry out regular racking every two and half months in order to aerate the wine,
and we also employ fining techniques using egg white to extract impurities from new wine
(bacteria, tiny pieces of seeds and grape pulp), so that these may not affect the product later on.
18 months after the harvest, once ageing is complete, our bottling partners put the wine in bottles ready for our consumers.
Bottling is the simplest task and yet it is also the most technical as it involves an important stage in production
that goes to ensure the longevity of the vine: the choice of the bottle and above all the choice of the cork.
The bottles are then stored in tote bins, labeled and capped on demand.
The annual production is 160000 bottles.
The average age of the vines is 35 years.
21 hectares of vines are rooted in the argilo-calcareous and gravelly soil of the Medoc region with a sowing density of 7000 vines/hectare.
These vine stocks are pruned into double guyots and vineyards on all our plots are ploughed in order to remove weeds that could be harmful to the health of vine stocks.
Chateau de la Croix is situated at Plautignon, a small village between Lesparre, the Gironde Estuary and the Atlantic Ocean.
It must be remembered that the etymology of the name "Medoc" is "media aquae" (surrounded by water).
