The first rule of winemaking is attention to the microclimates to be found within the domaine. How the plants are responding to shifting weather conditions: this is what controls the rate at which the grapes ripen, and thus it also determines the timing of the harvest. Constant vigilance on the part of the vintner is essential, in order to choose le bon moment for each particular côte. A genuine give-and-take develops between the vintner and his vines.

Chez Autard, the harvest is entirely manual, and is effected by experienced hands, who reject all but the finest fruit.

Vinification des Châteauneuf-du-Pape
For our Châteauneuf reds, we opt for a total égrappage. Thermoregulated stainless-steel vats and pneumatic pigeage make for precision temperature control, and thus an efficient extraction, without excess pressure. Following two or three days of unheated maceration (at 12°C/54°F), the juice gets a daily remontage throughout the next three to four weeks, which it spends in the vats. While giving priority to jus de goutte, we may eventually reincorporate some jus de presse, depending on its quality. As for our Châteauneuf whites, we aim for a degree of ripeness that will make for an aroma endowed with a complexity and richness worthy of its terroir.

Our whites (Grenache, Clairette, and Roussanne) are harvested and aged all together. The harvest is undertaken in the morning, the coolest time of the day, and then the grapes are pressed and the juice goes straight into the vat for a débourbage that lasts for 24 to 48 hours, at 10°C/50°F.

The juice is then transferred to new casks, where it stays for a year, at about 20°C/68°F.

Our Côtes du Rhône red (entirely Grenache and Syrah) is made from thirty-year-old stock. Here our aim is for maximum fruit, in order to achieve the red-fruit flavor and the freshness that one looks for in wines that should be opened and enjoyed sooner rather than later.

Our Châteauneuf-du-Pape reds
We like to get our wines going in casks as quickly as possible, while the malolactic fermentation is still going on. For the vintage called Côte Ronde, that means right after the écoulage, in the month of October. We do not blend the Grenache and the Syrah until later, on account of the striking difference in the rate at which these two varieties ripen here. By delaying the blending until a later stage, we are able to adjust the two ingredients with exceptional precision, to achieve the distinctive vintage we want.