For the first six months of the wine's ageing, the barrels are placed with the bung positioned at the top. The bunghole is therefore in the vertical position and stoppered very loosely by a glass bung which allows any carbon dioxide remaining after the fermentations to escape from the barrel. During this time, there is also a significant loss of wine, both through evaporation and absorption by the wood of the barrels, especially when these are new.

This loss quickly creates a wide surface contact between wine and air and must be compensated for, so as to avoid excessive oxidation, by frequent topping up. The topping up operations last six months and require the work of a large number of people... and a large quantity of wine. It may be open to question whether the traditional procedures which make topping up necessary are still valid. We know of course that the controlled doses of oxygen that it brings is helpful in the development of the wine, especially during the first months. But to what extent ? Are we really sure ? Are our doubts sufficiently founded to justify a change ? These are the questions we ask ourselves permanently about this subject as we do about many others... Adaptations are always possible, even desirable; but we should never lose sight of the reason why such and such a practice exists, and especially that a traditional procedure functions as an entity. Each modification of a part of the process can upset the efficacy of the whole.