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Wine-Making at Volterra

At Volterra, our dedication to quality defines every step of the wine-making process. The grapes are harvested in the cool of the night by pickers who gather them into small crates. The filled crates are immediately transported to the winery a few hundred metres away, with the result that the grapes are cool and intact upon arrival. At the winery, hand-sorting of the harvested grapes further reduces the yield but ensures that only the finest fruit pass into the vats or press.   We follow traditional methods of wine-making where we believe they contribute to the quality of the wine, including fermentation in small, fine grained French oak vats and ageing in French oak barrels. Modern techniques are used only in the winery for controlling temperature and in the fully equipped laboratory for monitoring the numerous parameters throughout the vinification process.   The wines at Chateau Volterra are produced under the capable guidance of the highly respected oenologist, Georges Pauli. A graduate of the Faculty of Oenology at ENITA in Bordeaux, Mr. Pauli has 40 years of practical experience in viticulture and viniculture. He is well known throughout the wine world for his work in the Bordeaux region, notably at the Chateau Gruaud-Larose, but advises wineries in many other parts of the world as well, including New Zealand, Spain and South Africa.

The South of France has one of the world's finest climates for producing noble grapes year after year - as, indeed, the Phoenicians were aware some 2600 years ago. The mild winters and the long hours of summer sunshine consistently yield juicy, aromatic and flavour-filled fruit.   The virtually uninterrupted sunshine during the summer drives grapes to maturity towards the end of August or in early September, when temperatures can be above 30ºC/86°F - a grape bunch picked at mid-day in the South of France is actually hot in the hand. In other regions, Bordeaux for example, the harvest takes place towards the end of September or even in October, when autumn weather has set in. Temperature is an extremely important element in vinification: oxidation, which begins as soon as the grape is cut from the vine, is accelerated with heat and has a negative effect on both the colour and the taste of the grape juices.   To counteract the negative impact of high daytime temperatures, we harvest the grapes at night. The part of the cave that is above ground has been thermally insulated and the temperature inside is controlled via an air conditioning unit. Each of the oak fermentation vats are individually temperature controlled and the barrel cellar is equipped with a unique system which allows us to control the temperature of each individual barrel separately.