he picking, plot by plot, starts when the grapes are fully matured. There's a first sorting out on the grape-plants and another one in the trailer. The crop is then quickly brought to the winery where it is discharged in a reception hopper, and it is minutely sorted out once more, on the sorting belt. Once in the de-stemming cask, the berries are separated from the stem (the central part), and after being slightly bursted, they are put in identified stainless steel tanks. The tanks have different capacities : from 220hl to 30hl for the smallest plots. Then, the alchemy of the alcoholic fermentation - transformation of the sugar of the grapes into alcohol - can begin...

The body and the structure of a wine come from the tannins that can be found in berries' skin and pips. The pulp gives volume. Inside the vats, those berries and pips are going to form a cap which needs to be " washed " and burst by carrying out daily pumping-overs in order to extract all the substance (fruit tastes, tannins, colour). Maceration delicately concludes this alchemy after a twenty days period. Between 68 and 72 hours after the berries were put in the vats, the best vats are bled in order to improve the wine concentration. The control of the vats' temperature (28 to 30°C) plays a major role in the alcoholic fermentation. The temperature of the vat is regulated.

During the running off period, the cap is carefully pressed to obtain the press wine. Very rich in tannins, very concentrated in fruit tastes, it will be conscientiously blended with the different wines that CHATEAU FOURCAS-BORIE produces.The malolactic fermentation - transformation of malic acid into lactic acid allowing the wine to lose the acidity and harshness coming from the malic acid is the last stage before the beginning of blendings and barrellings.

The blendings always represent a crucial stage for the future of a wine. With the help of the chief oenologist, Boissenot, Lescoutra and Miquau aim at producing two great wines : elegant top quality wines with an excellent ageing potential. It is thus with the utter care that they focus on making two wines with different characters.

CHATEAU FOURCAS-BORIE allies subtle fruity nuances with the fineness of flexible ans unctuous tannins. Elegant and racy, its great ageing potential allows wine-lovers to forget it for a while and let it slowly assert itself. Château Moulin du Bourg has a more flexible character. Indeed, this Cru Bourgeois quickly reveals fineness and aromatic richness allowing an earlier tasting. The vats which were not selected to produce those two wines, will produce the Second wine, the Moulin du Bourg or the Hautegrave-tris, or will eventually be sold in bulk to wine merchants. When the harvest is not so good, a limited numbers of bottles bear the label Château Fourcas-Borie and Château Moulin du Bourg.In fact, almost half of the harvest can be assigned to the Second wine or sold as a generic wine.

CHATEAU FOURCAS-BORIE stays during twelve months in new French cask-wood barrels in a proportion of 30 to 50%. The other part stays in barrels that have already been used. Château Moulin du Bourg stays in barrels that have already been used for Château Fourcas-Borie.

CHATEAU FOURCAS-BORIE uses the skills of five coopers, and selects barrels with different heating degrees in order to give the wines the aromatic complexity required. The twelve months maturing are punctuated by regular rackings. The wine is clarified every 3 or 4 months by removing the lees deposited, day after day, at the bottom of the casks. At the end of maturing, and after many tastings, the fining with egg whites clarifies the wine for the last time, and stabilizes it by draining the last particles. The ultimate step is the bottling, which is done on the estate. About 1,700 hectoliters of wine are produced each year, which represents almost 200,000 bottles.