At Pedesclaux, the architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte has created a state-of-the-art winery in which he has mixed metal, glass and stone. Echoing the straight lines of the grape-vines, the winery is a glass-fronted structure clad in bronze. It offers a window onto the vines, welcoming them into the wine-making process and bridging the gap between the outside and inside worlds. Composed of two buildings, the domain’s architecture is characterized by minimalism and the remarkable juxtaposition of modernity with the best of tradition.
The art of leaving the best of the grape to flow slowly and naturally downward, without human intervention, is known as “gravity flow“. Time alone is responsible for gently liberating the grape’s natural richness into the winery’s cellars. At Pédesclaux, grapes are left, uncrushed, to flow by gravity into 116 two-storied conical vats made of stainless steel. At the centre of the storehouse, a system of four elevator vats allows the wine to be gently transferred, letting nature run its course.
