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Dreyfus, Ashby & Co.
Main Office
630 3rd Ave
15th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Phone (212) 818-0770
Fax (212) 953-2366
Adminstration
50 Avon Meadow Lane
Avon, CT 06001
Phone (860) 409-9119
Fax (860) 409-9272
E-Mail
info@dreyfusashby.com
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Chateau
D'Auvernier
Neuchatel
 This
estate which is located on the shores of the Lake of Neuchâtel,
currently markets the produce of about 60 hectares of grapevines.
Although the Auvernier Castle Cellars actually possess only 16 hectares
of grapevines, they cultivate an additional 24 hectares and buy the harvest
of 20 hectares more from vine growers with whom their ties, in some cases,
go back several generations.
The light to medium chalky soils, in places with barely 40 to 50 cm of
topsoil overlaying the bedrock, can be very generous, providing the grapevine
with two to three metres of undersoil. Geologically similar to the Burgundy
soil, although situated a little further south, it benefits from the proximity
of the lake, which regulates the temperatures, thereby offsetting the
additional 100 metres or so in relation to its French counterpart.
All our wines ferment in vats equipped with a device permitting the monitoring
of the fermentation process. It is at the end of fermentation that they
take off in different directions. The Chasselas, the Chardonnay and the
Pinot Gris will be put in vats; the Pinot Noir and the Oeil de Perdrix
head for the oaken casks varying in capacity from 2500 litres (Pinot Noir)
to 10'000 to 12'000 litres (Oeil de Perdrix).
Only the Chardonnay and the Pinot Gris, matured in barrels, ferment in
220 litre casks. That part of the Pinot Noir that is to be matured in
barrels will be put into casks after the malolactic fermentation while
the wine is still cloudy. There, it will lie for 12 months.
Once the alcoholic fermentation has finished, the malolactic fermentation
starts for all our wines, with the exception of the Chardonnay.
Christmas usually marks the end of this stage so that we can then cool
the cellar and prepare the prefiltering and the various vintages. The
Blanc and the Oeil de Perdrix will be bottled as from March, the Pinot
Noir and the wines matured in barrels will wait, in principle, until September
or even after the harvest.
Each vintage is different. Sometimes they remind us of those that went
before, but for all that, each has its original touch. Wine is the fruit
of a whole year’s creation, during which Nature, the soil, the environment,
the stocking of the vines, cultivating techniques, then cellaring shape
the character and identity of the wine. We wish you as much pleasure in
discovering these numerous facets as we had in bringing them out.
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