Vacqueyras

LOCATION :  Parcels planted exclusively at Les Aubes and La Ponche lieux-dit (named places) in Vacqueyras.  

SURFACE AREA : 1.5 hectares.

GEOLOGY : Piedmont sand created by the erosion of Miocene safres, with the presence of mica originating from volcanic rock in the heart of the Alps and a small proportion of clay at Les Aubes. A sandy matrix, mainly carried from the Piedmont, mixed with fine clay particles from the Cône de la Font des Papes at La Ponche.

METHOD OF CULTIVATION : Ecocert-certified organic and Demeter-certified biodynamic.

GRAPE VARIETIES : Grenache 80%, Syrah 20%.

AGE OF VINES : Average 60 years.

HARVESTING & VINIFICATION : The grapes are hand-picked into crates and sorted manually in the vineyard before a second, table sorting in the cellar.  A proportion is destemmed, the quantity being determined by the nature of the vintage and the parcel, and the grapes are fed by gravity into the vats to ensure the integrity of the berries.  Fermentation takes place in thermo-regulated stainless-steel vats for 20 to 30 days, with two long pumping over sessions daily. Punching down is decided after tasting. Pressed pneumatically. Malolactic fermentation in vat. The wines are clarified by settling over winter in the cellar. Barrel filling occurs in the spring. 

AGEING : 18 months in 36-hectoliter oak Stockinger foudres, and 8-hectoliter terracotta amphorae. Unfined and unfiltered at bottling.

PERSONALITY :  The wines from these terroirs express themselves with elegance and finesse, characteristic of Grenache on sand.