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The Terroir and Soil of Chateauneuf du Pape2019/2/10

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The Terroir and Soil of Chateauneuf du Pape:

“The soils found in Chateauneuf du Pape, with its combination of rocks, stone, sand, limestone and clay terroir would be poor for most living things. But it’s perfect for the grapes grown in the appellation.

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In the west, where the commune of Chateauneuf du Pape is located, you find soils with various sizes of rocks, stone, sand, clay and pebbles. In France, the various rocks, stones and pebbles are referred to as galets roulés. These rocks, stones and pebbles play an integral in the terroir and the development of the grape.

The various stones reflect light to the vines, leafs and grapes. They also absorb heat during the day and radiate that heat to the vines during the cooler evenings, which aids in the development and ripening of the fruit.

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The rocky, stone filled terroirs produce ripe, concentrated, full bodied, intense wines. While many of the soils are riddled with stones, in the cooler terroirs found in the west, you also have deposits of limestone, which is perfect for the white wines. Red wines from limestone provide intense garrigue aromatics. In the northern part of the appellation, where Orange is located, you have more sand, clay, pebbles, limestone and marl, but less large stones and rocks.

The sandy soils often produce the wine elegant, supple wines in all of Chateauneuf du Pape. To the east you find Courthezon and Bedarrides with sand, pebbles and marl and in the southern part of the appellation, the soils have more sand, gravel, marl, clay and limestone in the terroir. The clay soils are perfect for making wines with richness and concentration!”

to read more: https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/rhone-wines-cote-rotie…

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Spice up your Valentine’s day!2019/2/6

One of our favorite red wine and chocolate pairing: Gigondas and dark chocolate.
It’s not a secret, red wine rocks chocolate!
Concentrated, balanced, refined: Gigondas wines offer a rich bouquet with fine, spicy aromas, and a sun-drenched colour that ranges from ruby to dark red.
Its terroir is so complex that it can produce a range of aromas that goes from fruity aromas of prunes and figs, to white pepper, scrub, thyme, and liquorice. It ages well and becomes more refined over time.

There is something irresistible about a chocolate vibe in a red wine – and you’ll know it when you taste it.
As for the chocolate, we recommend intense, dark chocolate, at least 60%. It’s not so sweet as milk chocolate and just dances better with the reds.

Chocolate deposits a fine film on the palate which to some extent neutralises the tannins in the wine, it’s very appealing.

Dark chocolate goes perfectly with our dry red wines from the Rhône Valley. Very tannic and powerful, red wines have to find a balance with the bitterness and the great organoleptic complexity of cocoa.

One of the grape varieties present in the wines of the Rhône Valley and a friend of dark chocolate, is undoubtedly Grenache. As he ages, he develops a spicy nose (nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla), Garrrigue but especially, torrefaction notes that flatters the flavors of chocolate.

 

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Try your own wine/chocolate pairing for Valentine’s day with Gigondas 2014 red Daumen!

 

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WHAT IS BIODYNAMIC WINE?2019/2/4

WHAT IS BIODYNAMIC WINE?
“The official definition of biodynamic farming according to the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association is “a spiritual-ethical-ecological approach to agriculture, gardens, food production and nutrition.” Biodynamic wine is made with a set of farming practices that views the farm or vineyard as one solid organism. The ecosystem functions as a whole, with each portion of the farm or vineyard contributing to the next. The idea is to create a self-sustaining system. Natural materials, soils, and composts are used to sustain the vineyard. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are forbidden for the sake of soil fertility. A range of animals from ducks to horses to sheep live on the soil and fertilize it, creating a rich, fertile environment for the vines to grow in. Biodynamic farming also seeks sustainability, or leaving the land in as good or better shape as they found it for future generations.”

Full article here:
https://vinepair.com/articles/biodynamic-wine-explained/


The story behind Daumen’s wines2019/2/1

 

The wines that fall under the name Daumen are from Jean-Paul Daumen’s negociant operation. Some of them actually emerge from estate fruit that he had declassified from his vineyards.

 

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They are limited production, but exceptionally impressive cuvees. Daumen is one of the most meticulous viticulturists and winemakers in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

 

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3 ideas behind the wines:

-To differentiate his different parcels. Clavin/Trois Sources/Hauts Lieux are the historical plots of Domaine de la Vieille Julienne. Daumen’s grandfather inherited them from his mother, Julienne.
Other small plots were divided into her nine other children.
5 years ago Jean-Paul Daumen could buy four more ha behind his house.
Other plots were also bought back from some members of his family :
« Lieu dit Maucoil » 1km away, grapes used to produced Daumen Côtes-du-Rhône and IGP Orange vin de pays and 2ha of Châteauneuf-du-Pape on « Plateau de Beaucastel »
The idea was to make a second brand rather than a « second wine ».
To have two different productions with two different styles but with the same winemaker behind.

-The second reason was also an opportunity.
Three former employees purchased their own vineyards in Rasteau, Gigondas and Lirac.
Jean-Paul Daumen wanted to give them his financial support and share his know-how.
Therefore the deal was to buy a part of their harvest in order to help them later to develop their own wine

-The third reason was to develop a range of wine with more accessible prices. Because the winemaker could predict that the production of Domaine de la Vieille Julienne wines will decrease and prices will rise due to climate change.
In order to have wines not too inaccessible for a part of his costumers.

 

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Daumen’s Côtes-du-Rhône, IGP Orange vin de pays and Châteauneuf-du-Pape were launched in 2009.
In 2010 he bought grapes in Gigondas and Lirac.
Gigondas was produced until 2014 but after the producer stopped to sell out a part of his harvest to keep it only for his own wine.
Lirac: stoped also from 2013.

 


Discussing 2018 weather conditions with Jean-Paul Daumen, Domaine de La Vieille Julienne2019/1/31

 

In 2018 70% of the harvest was lost in one day, on the June 11th. The most impacted areas were the ones surrounding the cellar (Lieu dit Clavin).
Climatic context from May 21st: 17mm of rainfall on May 22nd, 25th, 28th, 9mm on the 30th, 16mm on the 31st, 7mm on the 2nd of June, it wasn’t heavy rainfall but regular with a lot of humidity. On June 10th 40mm, very strong rain, all the organic products protecting the vines were washed away, the vines became unprotected.
This phenomenon didn’t occurred for more than two generations.
On May 12th Mildiou started to appear from early morning, it was incredibly humid.
How the vine will be affected depends of its stage of maturity. The vine is more sensitive during the blooming period. On May 12th more than half of the plots were in full bloom and they were the ones who suffered the most.
At 8am the climate felt tropical, hot and humid, the mushroom started to appear on the flowers. 1/8 grappes were affected, 10am all affected grappes were 100% covered by it, and more were starting to be affected. It was expending very fast. At 2pm 70% of the grappes were damaged.
When you follow organic practices there is nothing to do with a phenomenon of such a scale.
Domaine de la Vieille Julienne vineyards consist of 3 micro-climates: Clavin/ Les 3 Sources/ Les Hauts Lieux. Only Lieu-dit-Clavin plot was at full bloom time and was favorable to the development of the mushroom known as Mildiou. Even on the same plot the maturity is not reached at the same time for all the grapes, therefore effects will be also different. Les Hauts Lieux were the less affected area.
The vines of Lieu-dit-Clavin used to produced IGP Principauté d’Orange 4 ha of Grenache were lost, 70% of the harvest. On the North part of Lieu-dit-Clavin 90% of the harvest were lost.

It’s a real challenge for a winegrower but that’s part of our vocation, adaption to our environment, we work with nature. It opens new questioning on how to improve.
In 2018 we had almost no wind, no Mistral.
Weather forecast are less and less predictable. We might have shorter winters, so think about a possible different timing for pruning or change some grappe varieties more adapted to climate change, more suitable to dry climate.

If the loss was considerable (70%) the quality of the 30% harvested and vinified met the winegrower expectation! 2018 is a year that we look forward to drink!

 

 

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