Who: Denis Deschamps
Where: Estezargues, France
What: Côtes du Rhône
How: Organic Agriculture, certified by ECOCERT
Total size: SMALL

Côtes du Rhône

APPELLATION: AOP Côtes du Rhône

GRAPE VARIETY: 50% Syrah and 50% Grenache. Semi-carbonic maceration: 20% of the clusters are destemmed and crushed 80% are whole cluster. Both varieties are co-fermented.

WINE STYLE: Red

FERMENTATION TANKS: Stainless steel tanks of 30 to 80 hectoliters.

YEASTS: Indigenous

MACERATION: Fermentation takes about 2 weeks. The idea is to have the carbonic fermentation evolve as it must while also insuring that the alcoholic fermentation finishes (since we use only indigenous yeast). The extraction is gentle, and a weekly pump-over helps the yeast survive and thrive. Extraction is nothing more than a progressive diffusion of elements from the solid matter towards the free run juice. Obtaining optimal ripeness in the vines favors this diffusion.

MALOLACTIC: Done

AGED IN: Stainless, then concrete tank.

AGED FOR: 10 months in concrete tank. The wine was bottled just before the 2020 harvest

CLARIFICATION/FILTRATION: No artificial clarification. Sediment is removed through racking. Tartaric acid separates from the wine during the cold winter months. No fining

VEGAN: N/A

TOTAL SO2: 2.5g/hl added in anticipation of bottling. Free SO2 approximately 10mg/l and Total SO2 approximately 20mg/l.

BOTTLING DATE: 3 September 2020

ALCOHOL CONTENT: 15%

VINEYARD: The Côtes du Rhône parcels, in part, are situated in the town of Vénéjan in the lieu-dit La Nouve. The rest are in the town of Saint Nazaire in the lieu-dit les Fonts.

VITICULTURE APPROACH: Land and vines 100% our own and we tend to them ourselves. 

ALTITUDE: Around 80 meters in Vénéjan and about 220 meters in Saint Nazaire.

SOIL: In Vénéjan, the soil is composed of shattered calcerous fragments produced through erosion and mechanical action. The soil matrix is clay and silt. In Saint Nazaire we have loess soil with a preponderance of sand, beneath which lies the limestone matrix.

YEAR PLANTED: N/A

DENSITY: 2.10m x 1.25m spacing (3810 vines per hectare) for La Nouve in Vénéjan. 2.25m x 1.10m spacing (4040 vines per hectare) for Les Fonts in Saint Nazaire.

PICK DATE: 13 September 2019 in La Nouve and 18 September in Les Fonts

TOTAL PRODUCTION: 6,816 Bottles