Ageing

For three years the wine is aged in new barrels made of hand-split oak staves.

The fine grain and compact texture of these barrels is due to the trees' slow growth rate (when felled, most are between 180-and 250-years old), and they endow the wine with delicate tannins that manifest themselves slowly, in small amounts, without overwhelming the wine. 

Thanks to the wood tannins, these wines will develop a better structure and acquire appealing vanilla aromas.

The wood thus constitutes an "ideal environment" for the transformations of the wine's components.

It ensures slow oxygenation which contributes to constant and sustained aging of the wine.

The barrels are topped up every week and racked every three months, and fining them is indispensable.

Harder to clarify than dry white wines, sweet white wines must undergo a greater number of rackings : approximately 12% of the volume of the initial harvest will be lost to such operations.