Wines

The rosé at Gour de Chaulé is made from the direct press method. The juice is quickly drawn off the skins (6 to 9 hours of contact), then fermented. A cold stabilization follows. The wine does not undergo malolactic fermentation and is bottled in the early spring of the year following harvest. The Rosé is composed of Cinsault (50%), Grenache, and mourvèdre. This is a brilliantly colored wine with hues of pink and rose accompanied by flavors and a bouquet dominated by the impression of freshly crushed strawberries. Again, a limited amount of this wine is produced annually, only enough for us to have 1,200 bottles per year for the US market.

A small amount of Côtes du Rhône is produced from the vineyards owned by the estate in the communes of Vacqueyras and Violes. As with the more noble Gigondas, this cuvée is based almost exclusively on the Grenache grape (approximately 90% of the blend annually). It is vinified in a fashion similar to the Gigondas except that the élevage is less long. This is to say that there is an extended cuvaison with stems included, malolactic is done in cuve and the wine sees a brief stay in large foudres before being bottled eighteen months after harvest without fining or filtration. We purchase the overwhelming majority of this wine for sale in the USA (approximately 2,400 bottles per annum).

Several important vineyard sites form this Gigondas, including Gour de Chaulé, Les Blaches, and Les Bousquets. The Grenache vines average well over a half century in age, with low yields of 30-32 hl/ha. The grapes are never destemmed and there is a 3 week cuvaison with a small amount of press juice added back to the cuvée. The wine is racked into large oak “foudres” after malo where it stays for approximately 18 months, being bottled—unfined and unfiltered—three years after harvest. The resulting wine is sturdy, braced with sweet, dusty tannins, and is intensely aromatic with notes of crushed white pepper, oriental spices and game.