Vouvray Brut
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100% Chenin Blanc. Pinon makes two traditional-method sparkling wines, from bunches picked earlier than for the still wines and from the more clay and flint-forward parcels. The vines average 45 years old and have been certified-organic since 2007. Fruit for the brut is picked a little less ripe than that for the non-dosé. The hand-harvested bunches are rigorously sorted and gently and slowly pressed, with the juice flowing by gravity into underground tanks. Fermentation is spontaneous with indigenous yeasts and lasts 4 to 6 weeks. The wine is racked into old tonneaux and steel tanks for 2-3 months of aging on the fine lees. It is then lightly filtered and bottled for its second fermentation; the wine remains on the lees for 3 years before disgorgement and receives a 6-gram dosage.