Rigorous at the vines and thorough in the cellars - these are Château Olivier's mottos. Each step is controlled, from grape harvesting in crates to vinification in stages and aging in barrels. The priority is to allow the aromatic power of each grape variety to be fully expressed, a richness which find a harmonious balance when combined with the structure of Château Olivier wines.

 

LE VIGNOBLE
Soil: Günz and clay-limestone sands and gravels; exceptional variety of quartz, quartzite, jasper, agate, flint and Lydian stone.
Surface area: 10 hectares of white, 45 hectares of red
White grape varieties: Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, Muscadelle
Red grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot (2011)
Average age of vines: red 20 years, white 30 years.
Planting density: 7,000 to 10,000 vines/hectare
Size: single and double Guyot
Managed: in stages
Harvests: manually, in crates. With selective sorting of grapes from the vine and again in the cellar.

 

VINIFICATION
White wine vinification: skin maceration, fermentation in barrels (1/3 new barrels), 12 months aging on lees.
Red wine vinification: pre-fermentation maceration, alcoholic fermentation for 10-30 days at 25-30°C in small temperature-regulated truncated vats, aging for 12 months in barrels after malolactic conversion, addition of finings and filtration.
Post-fermentation maceration at 25-30°C, with the length depending o the ripeness of the grapes, striving for refined extraction.
Mal-lactic fermentation in barrels.

 

AGING
Aging: 1/3 new barrels
Length of aging: 12 months
Bottling: done entirely at the château