2006

We realize, unknowingly, that we practice the Japanese «Kaizen» approach… A visiting friend explained its principle, based on «progressive and constant improvements of minute details, with the aim of satisfying the most demanding customer», in other word, «continuous improvement». Throughout the year we changed all the farming equipment, including our three tractors, as we prefer to adjust tools to our old vines rather than the other way around. On the road to excellence every detail counts… Our team has now grown to eight, and the vineyard surface now covers almost 30 hectares (74.13 acres), following the (unreasonable) acquisition of a hillside plot of old Grenache. It had been abandoned and the team struggled for over two months to save it, despite wind and bitter cold temperature. The winter was cold and wet; bud-burst came late, then it didn’t rain between May and mid-September. The harvest was exhausting and we had to take risks. We vinified slowly to extract gently, producing powerful and concentrated wines which revealed themselves during aging. A memorable year for boletus mushrooms (ceps).