Vouvray (wine) often the last in France to be completed, potentially lasting until November. When sweet and botrytized wine are being produced, the harvest is often very labor-intensive, involving successive "tries" or passages through the vineyards with harvesters hand-picking only the ripest berries. Vouvray produces more than a million cases of wine a year. The traditional style of winemaking in Vouvray is a minimalist approach, often using neutral fermentation vessel such as stainless steel and not submitting the wine to malolactic fermentation. While some winemakers are experimenting with oak, very few wines are made with new oak. Vouvrays are usually bottled early
Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; formerly "Loire-Inférieure") is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France named after the Loire River and the Atlantic Ocean. Loire-Atlantique is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. Originally, it was named Loire-Inférieure, but its name was changed in 1957 to Loire-Atlantique. The area is part of the historical Duchy of Brittany, and contains what many people still consider to be Brittany's capital, Nantes. However, during World War Two, the Vichy Government set up a system of regional prefectures where Loire-Atlantique was excluded