 |
Surface area
: 323 ha. Second onlt to Chénas, Saint-Amour is
the smallest of the Beaujolais Crus.
|
|
Yield per hectare
: 52 hl/ha
|
|
Production
(in 2006) : 17 043 hl, or 2.2 million bottles
|
|
Grape variety
: gamay noir à jus blanc
|
|
Colour
: red
|
|
Pruning type
: short goblet leaving 3 to 5 branches on each vine and a maximum of
10 eyes (buds).
|
|
Number of plants
per hectare : from 8 000 to 10 000.
|
|
Soil type
: granitic and clay with silica. The clay coats the rocky and stony
elements that are granite arkoses and schist.
|
|
Orientation
: east and southeast
|
|
Communes with
the right to the appellation name : the village of Saint-Amour
in the Saône-et-Loire department at the northernmost tip of winemaking
Beaujolais.
|
|
Number of vinegrowers
: 46
|
|
Vinification
: in whole bunches. This vinification type is specific to the Beaujolais
winemaking area. Length of fermentation on the skins: from 8 to 10 days,
depending on the vintage and the winemaker. After vatting and the first,
alcoholic, fermentation, the grapes are pressed and the run off and
press juices are assembled then the second, malo-lactic, fermentation
takes place. Its role is to render the wines supple in removing their
acidity. In order to get the most out of their grapes and give added
structure to their wines, quite a few winemakers use techniques to immerge
the grapes in their own juice during the first fermentation such as
placing a grid over the cap to hold it down, pushing the cap down or
pumping the juice from the bottom of the vat over the cap.
|
