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

Côtes du Rhône Villages

APPELLATION: AOP Côtes du Rhône

GRAPE VARIETY: 100% Syrah Semi-carbonic maceration: 20% of the clusters are destemmed and crushed and 80% are whole cluster

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: 225 liter used barrels for 2/3 of the wine and stainless steel for the other third.

AGED FOR: 10 months ageing. 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 at bottling

BOTTLING DATE: 3 September 2020

ALCOHOL CONTENT: 15%

VINEYARD: The Côtes du Rhône Villages parcels are situated in the town of Vénéjan in the lieu-dit of Champ Fleuri. There are two parcels of Syrah - one on the east and one on the west end of the plot. There is Grenache planted between them, and this fruit makes its first appearance in the Villages cuvee in the 2020 vintage.

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

ALTITUDE: Around 120 meters

SOIL: In terms of soil, this was a former bed of the Rhone River, made up of river stones, (the “gallets” made famous in Chateauneuf-du-Pape) and clay. Below this stratum is a solid limestone matrix.

YEAR PLANTED: N/A

DENSITY: 2.10m x 1.00m, spacing (4762 vines per hectare) 

PICK DATE: 12 September 2019

TOTAL PRODUCTION: 3276 bottles