Acidité Totale : The overall acidity of a wine once finished, in grams per litre.

Botrytis/Pourriture noble : Botrytis is a parasitic and microscopic mushroom that settles and spreads in the white grapes. Its main effect is to over-concentrate the natural sugar present in the grapes. The wine makers consider it as a godsend, as long as it does not settle amongst the red grapes; when it does it is quite simply a nightmare ! Because of the way it looks, (like mould) they also call it pourriture noble (noble rot).

Brassage : Very soon after the red grapes are in the large stainless steel vats, the grape juice takes the lower part of the vats (2/3) while the grapes skins stay on top ; this top section is named the "cap" (le chapeau). Red wines get their colour and fine tannins from the grapes skins. (If you press the red grapes straight away you end up with white grape juice... Most Champagnes are made this way with a red grape variety Pinot noir ; when they're made with white grapes they're labelled : Blanc de Blanc). So, to bring out the colour and tannins, the vats need a good stir from times to times, and the cap a good soak! The way we do it at the Château du Hureau is called "brassage air". What looks like an enormous syringe is inserted at the bottom of the vat, delivering the cleanest filtered and compressed air. It produces a movement which moves the liquid, stirring the vat and giving the cap a good soak.

Pigeage : Pigeage is more or less the old method used to do the same operation as brassage, but from the top. Through a fairly large aperture on the top of the vats, the winemaker, using a tool looking very much like a stainles steel parott's perch (!), literally "punches" many times and in a circular motion the cap, which in turn, gets flooded by the red grape juice. Hey presto! Brassage and pigeage are the winemaker two secret weapons...

Crû : A vineyard or group of vineyards recognised for its superior quality, hence Premier Crû : a wine of superior grade and Grand Crû : a wine of the most superior grade.

Ebourgeonnage : In the springtime, after their long winter snooze, the vines wake up and sprout new buds, then secondary buds. If the winemaker allowed grapes to grow on the secondary buds, there just would be far too many of them, cluttering the vines and shadowing the growth of grapes on the main buds. "Ebourgeonnage" is the manual supression of all the secondary buds, and all other unwanted buds. An essential but tedious job, which may last up to 3 months, rain or shine ! (ouch, our backs !)

Eclaircissage : Cluster-thinning or green-harvest. Happens during summertime. Despite the spring "ébourgeonnage", the winemaker might find that there are still too many grapes in the vineyards for comfort and a healthy harvest. The grapes in surplus are cut out. (ouch, our backs, again!)

Elevage : Encompasses all the different stages of wine-making in the cellars from picking to bottling. Elevage lasts from 10 to 20 months.

Enherbement : The vineyards are sown to grass. The roots of the vines find themselves in competition with the roots of the grass, forcing the vines to dig even deeper into the subsoil for nutrients. The deeper, the better. It also looks very pretty and the wild life loves it!

Fermentation malolactique : Red wines go through two fermentations. The first one is the alcoholic fermentation turning sugar into alcohol. Soon after the alcoholic fermentation, the malolactic fermentation comes next, it turns the malic acid into lactic acid, essential for smoothness. If red wines didn't go through that malolactic fermentation, they would hardly be drinkable. White wines do not have to undergo the malolactic fermentation (but they sometimes do).

Filtration sur terre : Very often the last thing before bottling. The wine is filtered "through earth" to clean the wine of all suspended impurities. The "earth" in question is, in fact, a fossil conglomerate of single-celled algae (seaweed), wich have a cell wall of slica and are one of the major elements found in plankton (diatoms : 60/100 million years ago) ground as fine as flour. Also gives the wine its final shine.

Hygrométrie : The level of humidity in the atmosphere. In the caves of the Château du Hureau, it averages 90%.

Lie : Or lees, a sticky organic "living" sediment to be found at the bottom of barrels, vats etc...The first "lies" are often used to trigger the malolactic fermentation. They are collected as a tax and will be distilled into alcohol for chemists ; so is the "marc" (the skins of grapes once they have been pressed) A white wine is said "sur lie" when the vinification is made over a thin layer of lees left intentionally in the oak barrels. Their presence throughout the vinification, enriches the wine.

Passerillage : Under the effects of the sun, the grapes are partially dried (raisined), concentrating the sugar contained in them.

Pétiole : The stalk of the vine leaf

Pressurage direct : In opposition to the red grapes and with no further ado, the white grapes go straight to the wine press.

Sucre résiduel : Sometimes, in opposition to red grapes, not all the natural sugar contained in the white grapes has been transformed into alcohol during the alcoholic fermentation, some is left over. It is given a posh name : residual sugar...

Tris : Litteraly from the verb "trier" : To sort out, to pick out. In order to pick the ripest white grapes, one may have to go several times in the vineyards selecting the ripest grapes or part of the grape. Each time we go out picking is a "tri".