Reunion "Passion" Blaufrankisch 2015

Reunion "Passion" Blaufrankisch 2015

The Blaufränkisch grapes thrive in the ideal conditions of these top vineyards. The vine rows are green and, thanks to the presence of beneficial organisms living here, the use of insecticides are completely avoided. Gentle foliage work in the summer ensures high physiological maturity at harvest time. Grape yields are limited: 4500 kilograms per hectare for Reunion Passion; and 4000 kg / ha for Reunion Vision. The harvest takes place very late in the year. Grapes from the 2015 vintage were ready at the end of October. Picked by hand and under strict selection, only fully ripe and healthy grapes were allowed in the harvest baskets.

The Reunion Passion is fermented in steel tanks with its own natural yeasts; no selected yeasts are added. For the 2015, the wine spent four weeks on the mash and went through malolactic fermentation on the mash as well. Then the wine was filled in barriques – which are, for the most part, used 225-liter barrels, depending on the vintage. With the supreme 2015 vintage, only 20% of the barrels were used (second filling). In general, the wine first matures on the fine lees for several months to give it fullness and suppleness, and then spends at least ten months in small wooden barrels. For 2015, it was 14 months.

After its bottling and a few weeks of storage, the Reunion Passion will be launched on the market in the third spring following the harvest.

The Reunion Vision goes through spontaneous fermentation in open wooden vats, and without the addition of selected yeasts. The wine spends four weeks on the mash and undergoes malolactic fermentation during this period as well. It is then transferred into small barrels made of new, lightly toasted oak. As with the Reunion Passion, this wine remains on the fine lees during the first months of maturing. The maturation period lasts for 16 months in new barriques. The Reunion Vision will come on the market in the summer or fall of the third year following the harvest.