Grenache — Paroles de vignerons - Vinparleur

Surprising Rosé - The cuvee Méridienne from Domaine de l’Arjolle

Permalink, by Sebastian Nickel, Domaine de l’Arjolle

It’s a real challenge for us to make this rosé. In the vineyards as well as in the cellar, year after year. In the Méridienne, three grape varieties are blended, all of them from great rosé-regions: Grenache from the Mediterranean, Syrah from the Rhone and Cabernet franc from the Loire. But the real challenge of this wine, is to ferment and ripen it in oak barrels. It’s not a simple matter to match high acidity desired for a rosé wine, with the body and structure necessary to make a wine in oak barrels.
The secret lies in the choice of the grapes, a secret we keep jealously… The result is quite amazing and the particular taste of this rosé surprises us every year..

A salmon-red colour and a powerful nose, with cherry and gooseberries and hints of green pepper, freshly cut grass and sweet spices. Freshness precedes medium-bodied roundness on the palate, while a tad of tannins gives length and structure. It’s a serious rosé with good manners, which will behave well on your table. It honours all sorts of dishes – grilled fish and poultry, a risotto with fennel and chorizos, a bouillabaisse – but will also be good company when you just want to relax. Just like it has to be for a descent rosé wine.
Mourvèdre comes from Mars, Syrah from Venus – the “buddy” grape varieties at Domaine Santa Duc

Permalink, by Sebastian Nickel, Domaine Santa Duc

Yes it’s true: In Gigondas the Grenache dares to overshadow Syrah and Mourvèdre. But even if it seems to rule out all in the Rhone Valley, it also appreciates good company.

That’s why Mourvèdre, and to a lesser extend Syrah, occupy an important place in our vineyards, for different reasons. La Syrah, one of the few ladies amongst French grape varieties, offers certain qualities that a Grenache may appreciate: A dark, mysterious colour, aromas reaching from violet and raspberry to truffle and tobacco in old wines, and its legendary elegance that may temper the ardour of a Mediterranean Grenache.

The Mourvèdre, a grape variety we particularly appreciate, often watches the other grape varieties from a distance. More serious and discreet, he acts like a real shadow man in our wines, who controls the cuvee from the wings. Black in colour and fruit, he’s mainly loved – and feared – because of the specific structure of his tannins.

As a grape variety that ripens late, it should only be planted in specific places, to avoid the risk of unripe fruits that shall only give a rude wine. The lower, alluvial parts of Les Hautes Garrignes, as well as the higher, calcareous parts of Gigondas, both terroirs where grapes ripen lately, particularly suite to Mourvèdre. It gives straightness and calmness to our wines, as well as crispy, fresh tannins.
Pink is without a doubt the most beautiful colour of summer – Pierre Cros Tradition Minervois

Permalink, by Sebastian Nickel

Rosé wine is the winner of the past decade. We are drinking more and more of it, waiting almost as much for it as we are waiting for summer. We love it! Becoming popular has also had the impact to improved its quality, as the days of the cheap’n harsh Château Migraine seem to be far away. In fact, rosé is now considered as being a real wine and not anymore as some kind of hybrid looking for its personality somewhere between red and white wine.
There are several great rosé regions in France: The Loire and its sometimes sweet wines made of Cabernet franc and Gamay, Provence with its straight wines made from Mourvèdre and Tibouren noir, the Grenache based rosés from the Rhone Valley, with the king of rosé coming from Tavel, the great Languedoc region with its Mediterranean rosés made of Syrah, Cinsault, Grenache, Carignan…

Concerning the production process of rosé, there are two traditional schools of wine making, which may complement one another: Rosé made by direct pressing of the grapes, and rosé de saignée (the French word literally means bleeding). For the first methodology, the red grapes are destemmed and directly pressed after harvest. The wines made this way are mostly light coloured. But finally colour not only depends of the wine making process, but is also strongly influenced by the grape variety and the ripeness of the berries. After pressing, the must will be fermented like white wine at low temperatures.

For a saignée rosé there is no pressing. Grapes are destemmed and slightly crushed, before being put in a tank and cooled down. After several hours of skin maceration, 10% to 20% of the must is removed into another tank. The removed juice will be fermented to rosé wine, whereas the remaining grapes in the first tank will be fermented to red wine. We generally agree that the longer the skin contact between the juice and the grapes, the deeper its colour. But like in the case of direct pressing, the influence of grape variety and ripeness on colour remains high.

These two wine-making methods lead to different types of wine. Direct pressing mostly gives a lightly coloured, straight and fresh rosé, whereas the saignée way results in deeply coloured, mellow and stronger wines. Of course, you may also use both ways to produce a wine, directly pressing one part of the harvest and using the saignée process for another. You only have to be sure that the process you choose suits to the grapes and the type of wine you want to make.

The cuvee Tradition from Pierre Cros from the Minervois is a good example for this. Made of four different grape varieties, Pierre uses both methods on different varieties: Direct pressing of Grenache and Mourvèdre makes his wine straight and fresh, whereas the saignée of Syrah and Cinsault juices make it smooth and mellow. Lightly coloured, his rosé has a powerful nose of strawberries and raspberries, with hints of lemon peel and mint. On the palate, it’s light and fresh, showing some light tannin on the final. Served at the right temperature (10 to 12 °C or 50 to 53 °F), it’s the perfect wine for your aperitif, for a lunch on the terrace or for grilled fish and seafood. To cut a long story short – it’s perfect company for your summer days and nights!
Habemus Papam at Domaine Santa Duc

Permalink, by Sebastian Nickel, Domaine Santa Duc

Habemus Papam – we have a pope – that’s what we can claim now at Domaine Santa Duc, only few days after the bottling of our first wine grown in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

We purchased our 40 year-old vineyard on the sandy soils in the north-eastern part of the appellation in 2009. Picked for the first time in 2010, a remarkable vintage in the Rhone Valley, partly destemmed grapes were fermented by natural yeast, before the wine took a 14 months rest in the wooden tanks of our cellars.

On the label we honour Jean XXII. Native of Cahors, he was the first pope to choose for Avignon as residence. As well, he planted the papal vineyards and ordered to build a new castle (château neuf) in the place that should become Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

This wine is made from a majority of Grenache, assisted by a few grapes of Mourvèdre: Lightly coloured, a fine and elegant nose, juicy, straight and mellow on the palate. After having been presented at different wine fairs and events all over Europe this spring, this daughter of Châteauneuf, born in the terroir of the Saintes Vièrges (the Blessed Virgins), a delicate neighbour of La Crau, is now ready to expose herself to your palates.

Of good spirit, our female pope invites you to savour, to drink and to laugh. Is this a veritable devine wine? It’s up to you to taste and see…

We are very happy to announce that we have purchased another 2,5 hectares of vineyards growing on the terroirs of La Crau and La Font du Pape in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, bringing the total surface of our vineyards in the appellation up to 3,75 hectares.
Black pudding, Gigondas and the gateway to paradise - Santa Roc from Yves Gras and Rémy Pedreno

Permalink, by Sebastian Nickel

In France we sometimes speak of a day “with” or a day “without” depending on whether it has gone well or rather badly ...
On my way back home after a busy week full of work, I stop by my favourite multinational butcher, with quite a precise taste on mind. It only takes a couple of minutes to get what I want. A neat piece of black pudding, a couple of apples, a kilo of rice from the Camargue and sweet onions from the Cevennes under my arm, I get back on my bike – oh sorry, that picture sounds too perfect – so honestly, I get back into my car and drive on.

At home, all my victuals are peeled and cut into separate pots and pans and on the stove soon - the onions seasoned with a little curry - where they roast slowly ahead, bake and melt. I descend into my wine cellar, which actually is just a garage with no cars ...

I am looking for a bottle from 2009, more precisely, a Gigondas, of Yves Gras. Bottled some five months ago, I have not had time to taste the wine since it has left its vat. After several minutes of searching in different boxes and cases, I finally find what I am looking for: Santa Roc 2009 – a great vintage in southern France – a wine that results from the collaboration between Yves Gras of Santa Duc and Rémy Pedreno of Roc d’Anglade.

As soon as the cork is out, a quick sip seems unavoidable in order to get a first impression: It certainly required four winemakers hands to get so much of crispy acidity in a Grenache-dominated, full-bodied Rhone wine in 2009 ! The first aromas look rather fruity and sweet - cherry, red currants - but spices are not far away and fully express in the mouth. Supported by crunchy tannins, they fill the palate in a pleasant way with pepper, cacao and cinnamon, or even with a touch of fennel and some grounded coriander seeds ... Young and jaunty, this wine tolerates to be decanted, without really needing it.

And when a short time later the mellowness of the fried black pudding joins in, as well as the crunchiness of the rice, the fruitiness of the apples and sweet spiciness of the curry-onions, my stomach and my taste buds feel pretty sure about the fact that today rather is a day “with” than “without”...
Tasting of Clos Chanteduc 2008 from Yves Gras

Permalink, by Sebastian Nickel, Domaine Santa Duc

Here you have an excellent example for the fine wines that could reveal the vintage 2008 in the Rhone Valley.

The wine is dark coloured with purple sparks. A little shy, the first nose offers aromas of blackcurrant, laurel and black pepper – a lot of pepper. After short breathing, the bouquet opens on wild strawberries, freshly cut herbs and a hint of eucalyptus.

The wine is soft and smooth on the palate, with few but serious tannins. A straight and fresh acidity adds some firmness and gives a lot of length to the final.

According to Robert Parker, this wine offers beautiful notes of kirsch liqueur, liquorice, spice box, roasted Provencal herbs, and a hint of lavender in its explosive aromatics. The wine possesses terrific purity and density as well as the succulence, fleshiness, charm, and sensuality of a beautiful dry red wine from Provence. Consume it over the next 3-4 years. (…) This vineyard, located near the old Roman village of Vaison-La-Romaine, may have produced as good a vintage in 2008 as it did in 2007." (06/09)

“Some of my best Syrah grapes ripen in Vaison la Romaine”, says Yves Gras. In the Clos Chante Duc, some 350 meters above sea level, he works the vineyards of Walter and Patricia Wells, a famous restaurant critic and food journalist who inter alia writes for the Washington Post and the NY Times, since 2007.

Some old Grenache, a little Mourvèdre and about a third of Syrah are the foundations of this fine and elegant Côtes du Rhône. After fermenting in modern concrete tanks, the wine ages in oak for 12 to 18 months.
Yves Gras on the 2008 vintage

Permalink, by Sebastian Nickel

Like every year, Robert Parkers has visited the Domaine Santa Duc at the end of august, to taste the wines of the last two vintages. An occasion for Yves to review 2008, a vintage that has been hastily denounced by the press. Although the biggest default of this year simply might be its position between 2007 and 2009.

“Monsieur Parker”, I’ve told him,” 2008 is good! Some people did a great job…”

A reminder: Springtime in the Rhone Valley first was dominated by cool and wet conditions. Around flowering, though, weather was rather dry and warm, and after a hot and summerly month of July it turned cool again in August. Frequent rainfalls allowed slow and regular ripening of the grapes. Some heavy local thunderstorms at the end of summer caused some damage on tender grape varieties, such as Syrah or Cinsault.

"Watch out, as the 2008 vintage might bewitch you, even if it looked like the weather conditions would condemn the harvest in advance: a difficult, cool year, sometimes even with hail and heavy rain storms. (…)
Positive effects of those climatic variations were concentrated juices due to low yields, interesting acidities preserved by low temperatures. Fresh northern mistral winds also led to well adjusted alcohol contents because of the slow ripening of the grapes. (…)" Antoine Gebelle and Roberto Petronio wrote those words in the renowned Revue du Vin de France June 2009. And a lot of wines from 2008 nowadays confirm their judgement.

“Concentrations were not sufficient for the Grand Grenache”, Yves explains,”but I made a Haut Garrigues this year, and it was a very good wine. However, the press did not support the 2008 vintage and one may call it “autodestructif” to edit a grand cuvee under this circumstances. I like the wines of 2008 very much. They are well balanced and fresh but also show maturity and power. Just taste it, and you will find quit a lot of wine in your glass."

Well, you got the message, best you taste the wines of 2008 yourself and judge them. Like every year, it is a question of taste.
_
News from the vineyards of Chateauneuf-du-Pape

Permalink, by Sebastian Nickel, Domaine Santa Duc

After searching for several years, Santa Duc has acquired a vineyard in Chateauneuf. Situated in the Saintes Vièrges, the 1,2 hectares had been planted with Grenache about 40 years ago.

Several week plants have been replaced by Counoise and Mourvèdre this spring. During a first tasting in the beginning of September, the grapes showed the fresh acididity and fine tannins typical for sandy and stony terroirs. Picking was done on Saturday October 2^nd , with rapid onset of spontaneous fermentation.

Like you, we are curious for the first results. We will report on it…