Let the wine live
Winery Drouhin, Beaune
The Drouhin winery was founded in 1880 in Beaune. The small town south of Dijon is considered the wine capital of Burgundy. The winery Domaine Joseph Drouhin produces fine high-quality white and red wines on 78 hectares of cultivated land.
Jérôme Faure-Brac, the technical manager, welcomes us to the Clos des Mouches vineyard. This terroir is one of Drouhin’s top locations. The “Clos de Mouches” is one of the most sought-after wines among customers, mainly from France and the USA.
In Drouhin, the vines are planted more densely than usual, using deep-rooted old vines and small harvests to absorb as much of the character of the soil as possible, explains Faure-Brac. A biodynamic approach is also followed. “Natural solutions for natural problems” is the credo of the house. The vines are cultivated in the in-house nursery and the vines are ploughed with horse ploughs and natural compost. Pesticides are not used, instead plant infusions and natural enemies of pests are used. The sustainable approach is clearly visible: On a part of the vineyard without vines, the soil is given a break of three years; instead of wine, special green manure is now growing here, which improves the soil and strengthens it against pests.
After the vineyard we are taken to the winery. Here are stored 4000 French oak barrels, filled with the finest wines, as well as batteries of different sizes. So much wine needs space, therefore the large cellar was already built in 1970 outside the gates of the city and has been extended several times since then. The head office is located directly in the city centre of Beaune. Here the widely branched old cellars impress, in which thousands of bottles are still stored. In a larger vault, a group of regular customers is tasting wines from various locations.
“It’s the whole package.” High quality, excellent value for money and of course the easy cleaning of the tanks make the difference for Faure-Brac. The double jackets are another advantage. They take up little space, so more containers can be placed on the available surface and perfect temperature control can still be achieved. But Faure-Brac’s wide range is also an advantage. Drouhin uses Speidel products from all areas: Fermentation tanks, transport tanks, storage tanks and mixing tanks. “Speidel offers all this from a single source and makes handling easy.” Jérôme Faure-Brac was obviously convinced by the quality of Speidel products in several aspects.
www.drouhin.com
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