Tardieu-Laurent

Winemaking

Michel Tardieu’s talents have been widely recognized for having secured long-term, hand-shake deals with vignerons who carefully guard the location of their properties. Each is the caretaker of only vineyards with 50- to 100-plus-year-old vines.

Michel works with 60 to 70 vignerons throughout the northern and southern Rhône. Two-thirds of Michel’s production is in the southern Rhône, where his working relationships include 10 growers in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

During the course of the year, Michel regularly visits the vignerons and walks their vineyards, sharing technical information, winemaking techniques and even declaring when the grapes are ready to be harvested.

Once picked, the grapes are sorted and vinified at the vignerons’ properties with Michel’s cautious input. To achieve this effectively, Michel works in close cooperation with Philippe Cambie, a reputable oenologist in the Rhône Valley. Philippe provides guidance on behalf of Tardieu-Laurent during the winemaking process as needed and follows the cuvées in each domaine, ensuring they are made to represent the philosophy of Tardieu-Laurent. He also provides technical support to his vigneron partners and supports the analytical follow-up of the wines throughout their élevage.

When fermentation is complete, all of the wines, with the exception of Les Becs Fins, are racked into Michel’s barrels and transported to his domaine in Lourmarin. (Les Becs Fins is aged in stainless-steel tanks to retain its fresh, fruity profile.)

Michel works with a barrels produced to his specifications, which are made with oak from the forests of Tronçais and Allier. The wood is air dried naturally, rather than by kiln, for 26 to 30 months; this seasons the wood more slowly to eliminate any “green” flavors and tame the tannins that are in the oak. Tronçais and Allier are chosen for their tight, dense grain and elegance, which imparts flavor more slowly to wine. The treatment of each barrel is specific to the type of wine it will hold.

The barrels, which hold 228 liters (60 gallons) each, are a Burgundy-style and are shorter and wider, with less surface area than a Bordeaux-style barrel. These special barrels have thicker staves and a deeper bilge for the lees to collect during long aging periods, between racking of the wines.

In the cellar, the wines are aged according to appellation, with some variation by vintage. They are then bottled by hand without filtration in order to preserve the purity of the wines’ complex aromas and intensity of rich flavors.