Domaine du Père Caboche Vieilles Vignes Elisabeth Chambellan Châteauneuf-du-Pape hand harvest the grapes that then go through the de-stemmer and the crusher, both located directly above the fermentation tanks, and falls in with gravity. The alcoholic fermentation starts under the influence of the yeast and lasts an average of a couple of days up to a month, depending on the wine and the grapes. This is where the transformation of sugar into alcohol takes place. At the same time, the maceration begins: the coloring substance and tannic elements of the skin spread into the fermenting must. Depending on the desired red wine, maceration will last more or less time. For a Vin de Pays, generally a week will be enough. But the red wines destined to ageing, especially the Chateauneuf du Pape, will need a longer maceration to get a good structure and a laying down potential. When we judge the maceration to be long enough, we start running off the wine. The tank is emptied, the wine separated from the marc, the solid parts of the grape still full of alcohol. This drained wine is called free-run wine. The marc is then manually racked off, and pressed to get the wine out. This is the press wine which is richer in color and tannins. This press wine will be at first stored away from the free-run wine. Afterwards, depending on its quality and the kind of wine we look for, they will be assembled either immediately or later on. Following this step, a second fermentation starts under the action of bacteria. It is this malolactic fermentation that gives biological stability, gustatory evolution and wine maturity. When these steps are over, we can then proceed to the first blends, and the ageing of the wines in oak tuns and concrete tanks can begin.