Winemaking

At Tawse, winemaking begins in the vineyards. Healthy vines yield quality fruit which allows us to craft terroir-driven wines of great elegance, depth and character. Promoting the health of our vines and vineyards requires a labour-intensive and hands-on approach. We tuck and thin the shoots by hand to increase sun exposure and air flow. We keep the yields low by cluster-thinning to ensure that all the energy of the vine is focused to ripen fewer higher-quality grape clusters. Our grapes are harvested at optimal ripeness and sorted to select the very best fruit.

Organic farming feeds the vines and controls diseases without the use of synthetic insecticides, fungicides and fertilizers. We strive to create a diversified balanced ecosystem that generates health and fertility from the vineyard itself. Healthy vines mean less need for outside substances to control diseases and promote growth. By being present in the vineyard, we are able to anticipate and prevent issues.

Our grapes are harvested at optimal ripeness and sorted. Our reds are de-stemmed before pressing and our whites are gently whole cluster pressed to avoid the bitter characteristics from the stems, skins and seeds. Aromatic whites are fermented in stainless steel. We barrel-ferment our Chardonnay in French oak using wild yeast. All reds are fermented in oak barriques then aged in French oak from 12 to 18 months depending on the varietal.

The architecture of our winery was carefully conceived to be environmentally friendly. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are aged in underground cellars, which keeps the ambient temperature between 10 and 16 degrees Celsius, with a natural humidity of approximately 85%. This relatively stable temperature and high humidity allows our wines to age gracefully with a minimum amount of evaporation. Our modern geo-thermal energy system has reduced our use of traditional forms of energy by 80%. We also have a wetland bio-filter which allows us to re- use of all our sanitary and winery process water.