Manual harvest with small crates. Vinification started with the direct press then cold settling after the harvest. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentations in stainless steel vats. Aged for 6 months, half the volume in 228 l barrels and 500 l demi-muids and half in stainless steel.
They are racking at the beginning of March. Natural vinification without oenological inputs. Without fining or filtration. They only use indigenous yeasts. Very low dose of sulfites is added after pressing and before bottling.
The name “Babel” comes from the movie of the same name from producer Alejandro Iñarritu in 2006.
Babel is an important movie for Laura, the wife of Paulo.
This is the movie she used for her thesis at La Sorbonne University in Paris.
This movie talks about diversity, differences, mutual understanding, and reconciliation.
The vineyard where the Babel grapes were harvested is an old vineyard with various cépages (Grenache Blanc and Gris, Macabeu, Carignan, Clairette, Grenache noir). Those cépages are like different languages which cohabit in the same place.
In the Babel tower story, the languages are scattered all around the world, so it’s like those vines.
Finally, for the first vendanges (harvest) of the domain in 2019, lots of friends from all around the world came to help Paulo and Laura. There were seven different nationalities (and one Japanese!).
There were no common languages, but while working in the vines and sharing the same experience, everyone understood each other even without talking.
That resembles the Babel story!
For Laura and Paulo, the Babel cuvée is a mix of all those stories and a symbol of diversity.
