A rather odd fermentation

14 November 2011 Cellar

It is somewhat unusual to behold half bottles inserted upside down into the bung hole of each barrel. Is this a whim of the cellarmaster?  Or someone’s idea of a practical joke?

“Please understand that this is your favourite drink in gestation” *, explains Sandrine Garbay, the cellarmaster :

 

* As soon as the grapes are pressed , the must is put into barrels for a crucial step to take place: alcoholic fermentation, during which sugar is transformed into alcohol.