Our work in the cellar is simple.
But simplicity is never the same as ease. Above all, we seek purity in our wines. Our obsession is that of the Japanese painter who spends a lifetime perfecting a single brushstroke. This work begins, of course, in the vineyard and partly reflects our terroir — but it must be completed in the cellar.
Red wine vinification
To express purity in our wines, we have chosen two styles of vinification for our reds:
- Destemmed vinification — the Bordeaux classic — with manual pump-overs to extract only the finest elements. The true art of this work reveals itself at pressing time (using a small vertical cage press). The press lots are kept separate wherever possible, then tasted with our oenologist Édouard Lambert from the Boissenot laboratory in Lamarque, Médoc. This is our connection to the Left Bank — and above all, our guarantee of the highest quality for our wines. We are very proud to make every decision on the estate ourselves, but we must bow to Édouard's extraordinary tasting expertise! At the blending stage, the press wines are incorporated in just the right proportion.
- Whole-bunch vinification. The grapes are harvested by hand and placed directly into the vat as whole bunches. Having practised this technique for eight years at Le Soula in Roussillon, Gérald now applies it at Terrasson.
White wine vinification
Our white wines are made without oenological fuss.
The harvest is done by hand and pressing is carried out with our small basket press — a long and crucial stage. Contrary to what is taught in winemaking school, we press without any protection against oxidation, and the pressing itself is deliberately slow and extended. This allows us to achieve a gentle tannin extraction, which brings a touch of salinity on the mid-palate.
We allow malolactic fermentation to occur naturally. This makes for a more stable wine and opens up a different aromatic palette.
Orange wine vinification
Orange wine has been Gérald's speciality since 2009.
This wine is made from white grapes vinified in the same way as a red, with maceration.
At Terrasson, the maceration is done as whole-bunch for 10 to 20 days.
The resulting wine is darker in colour than a white. It is structured in the same way as a red — which is precisely why a new descriptor was needed to set it apart from white wine.
David Harvey, a wine merchant in the United Kingdom, and Isabelle Legeron, a friend and wine journalist also based in the UK, coined the term "orange wine" in the 2010s. Gérald played a significant part in bringing the term "vin orange" into common use in France.
