Chateau De Leberon
France
The spring of 1994 started early, and the following harvest was fairly small due to an early frost. Despite the smaller quantity of grapes, a dry summer meant the grapes were riper and more aromatic when harvested. Following natural vinification with indigenous yeast, the wines distilled traditionally in an alambic armagnacais. Jean Rozes – father of current Leberon proprietor Caroline – was manning the estate in 1994, and racked the spirit into a 1200 liter foudre usually used for blending as well as one 420 liter cask, due to a lack of empty casks a the estate at the time. After 17 years, it was transferred to a single cask, where it aged for 10 more years for a total of 27 years in oak.