However, there are moments in the summer when the air is still and the sun’s power intense enough to change an entire vintage within a couple of days. The Crozes-Hermitage Rouge “Les Picaudieres” and the Saint-Joseph are raised exclusively in oak barrels. They respect the soil and nature, and minimize the use of treatments to copper and sulfur—both essential in all European vineyards whether they are in organic, biodynamic and/or a “natural” winegrowing culture.In the cellar it’s pretty straightforward. As a side note, Rousset has a fabulous collection of single parcel Crozes-Hermitage vineyards that I’ve encouraged him to bottle alone. And, yes, some family members do speak English.The meal ended with a selection of traditional French desserts, including chocolate mousse, crême brûlée and a version of lemon meringue served in aAt other times, depending on the season, you might find on the menu chicken breast in a pesto sauce, partridges from the Terre de Mistral farm or a strawberry smoothie with olive oil and basil sorbet.The Appellation d'Origine Protégée wines made on the domaine are variously Côtes de Provence and Côtes de Provence Sainte Victoire. In the three original appellations the soil for Syrah is largely granitic, but with many small variations of igneous and metamorphic stones, as is stated in the case of Les Picaudières. The steel is employed to inhibit malolactic fermentation and preserve the elusive freshness whites from this region struggle to maintain.

Stéphane Rousset’s wines are built on solid craftsmanship and a clear concession of his voice to that of his terroir. The climate in the area behind Hermitage tends toward warm days, but most of his vineyards are close to the river gorge and a plentiful supply of forests, so they air out and cool down quickly at nightfall. The Rhône River also contributes to moderating the temperatures, but likely less than in the past, as hydroelectric dams now slow the water current.

A stroll through their vineyards reveals an extremely high level of sustainable farming from this virtual two-man team. (The only insurance of the separation of soils is to diligently do your homework to find out where each vigneron has their parcels; for almost all only carry the appellation name and little else to separate areas, save a few, like Stephane Rousset, or the promising young Jean-Baptiste Souillard. Whether inside or out, you'll enjoy panoramic views over the vineyards towards (There’s white too, but to a much lesser degree.) Wine style: Vin de Voile.. Sauvignon Blanc – Semillon is a classic white wine blend.

The likelihood is that their vines are close to home, thus revealing at least a starting point to explore further.

On one end you have the ancient granite bedrock, and on the other, multi-layered alluvial deposits largely brought in by the Rhône and Isère Rivers; their torrent clash over the years is evident on the south and eastern zones of Crozes-Hermitage and Hermitage, and of course the Rhône is responsible for breaking away the western section of Hermitage and Crozes-Hermitage from the massif across the river.Granite, one of the darlings rock types of the Northern Rhône Valley, is all too often misattributed as the mythical legendary soil of the hill of Hermitage, since it makes up only a small proportion of this famous hill’s western flank—perhaps around 15%.
Hopefully this will come to fruition someday.His whites made from Marsanne are mostly aged in stainless steel tanks, with a small proportion of French oak barrels. We go back as far as the Massif Central’s conception more than three-hundred million years ago, which is responsible for the granite and metamorphic outcrops found in the Northern Rhône. As already mentioned in The Story (above), Rousset’s vineyards are in its most northern communes: Érôme, Gervans, and Crozes-Hermitage (the village from which the appellation takes its name). Rousset’s differ quite a lot compared to those on the fully exposed Chassis plain, or even up into Mercurol, home to some of appellations limestone terraces toward the east, not too far from the eastern flank of Hermitage. The first vintage I tasted of Rousset’s wines was 2009, and I was completely smitten.

It took a while to get ahold of him, which is why it’s taken to finally get this domaine onboard.

They are indeed To the north and behind Hermitage, on the same side of the Rhône River, is the setting for Stéphane Rousset’s vineyards. Our biodynamic wines are two opposite extremes.

The Gueurys specialise in olive oil production (The Davicos are vintners who have been making wine in Provence for generations, dealing with the local co-operative. Here they are on moderately steep to very steep granite terraces of the river’s left bank, above the Rhône and tucked back behind the behemoth hill of Hermitage.Rousset’s collection of vineyards is where the Rhône River swings west before banking back toward the east, exposing granite rocks from the Massif Central and yielding wines of texture and perfume from what we more commonly associate with Cornas and St. Joseph. His fastidiousness is obvious, even when he’s The red wine vinifications are made with fully destemmed grapes and the use of 225-to-500-liter French oak barrels, with a minimum of new oak mixed in, and only when barrels in disrepair need replacement. No accommodation is available yet, but it's planned for the future.So far the clientele at the Domaine Terre de Mistral is mainly regional, but the sights are firmly set on attracting more international tourists. Les Picaudières, in the commune Gervans, is historically the most revered vineyard on this side of the river on granite terroirs, with exception of Hermitage and its many lieux-dits.

Vineyard Profile. The result in Crozes-Hermitage and Hermitage were these opposing geological settings. It is run by two families, the Gueurys and the Davicos. Tags: Bordeaux, France, Vineyards.

More recently they decided to go it alone and develop more ambitious wines.On family-oriented days you might find donkey rides or a vegetable sculptor who turns aubergines into penguins. His whites, composed of Marsanne, grow mostly on loess, a fine-grained crystalline soil blown in by the wind and resulting in deep topsoil deposits above granite bedrock under many of his vineyards by the river. Once a month there is dinner jazz with musicians from the region and, on another evening, a system of Nocturnal walks, vineyard and olive mill tours and quiz nights figure among the other events organised throughout the year (check the Domaine's website, linked below, for details). Domaine de Rousset Peyraguey.