Glossary

DOSAGE
'Dosage' is the process by which a small amount of sugar is added to a 'Méthode Traditionelle' or Champagne wine. This happens after the first fermentation has finished and the 'dégorgement' has taken place. It allows the wine to ferment again to create the bubbles and the amount of sugar added governs the eventual sweetness of the wine. Philippe Gourdon makes traditionally dosed wine but also makes a 'non-dosé'. This he does by cooling the wine before the end of the fermentation (this stops it), allowing sediments to settle, dégorging the wine then returning it to fermentation temperature to finish the wine off. He thus avoids adding any foreign sugars to his bio-dynamic wine.

SAIGNÉE
The saignée (bleeding) is what gives a rosé its colour. The vinification of a rosé starts off exactly like a red with the grapes in the fermentation vessel. When a red is made, the skins are normally left in for the whole of the fermentation. However in a rosé, they are removed between 12 and 48 hours into the fermentation, the length of time depending on the pinkness required and on the grape variety (some giving up colour and body more readily than others).

LUTTE/CULTURE RAISONNÉE
'Lutte or culture raisonnée' is a reaction to the vineyard management methods of the 80s, when chemical sprays and fertilisers were used fairly indiscriminately by some growers. Most of our suppliers now use little or no chemicals, preferring other methods to fight diseases and pests of the vine. For instance, pests are observed and only sprayed if crucial thresholds are crossed, whilst, at the same time, predators of these pests are attracted with pheromones. NO herbicides are used at all. The majority of our suppliers report that they only need to use chemical sprays approximately once every 3 years.