The vintage

The 2020 vintage in Southern Rhône was favoured by very good weather conditions, it is a generous vintage, both in terms of quality and quantity. Not as hot as in 2019, this year was very windy, throughout the growing cycle, with light rainfalls. After a fairly mild winter (one single episode of frost was noted during the night of March 24, but only the early ripening plots were very slightly affected). The spring was radiant, quite warm and very windy, which allowed the soils to preserve their freshness. Flowering began on May 18, under very healthy conditions. The good weather continued in June, July and August, with plenty heat but lower temperatures than in 2019, cool and humid nights and wind which continued to blow, preserving the freshness of the vines and maintaining perfect sanitary conditions for the grapes. The harvest, which was fairly early, therefore began under these very good conditions on August 26 with the white Côtes-du-Rhône and continued until the end of September with the Mourvèdre. September was warm at the beginning of the month and then more temperate, offering idyllic harvest conditions and allowed each plot to be harvested at perfect maturity. The harvest was very healthy with beautiful juicy and very ripe grapes, reasonable alcohol levels, good acidity and already a great balance. Yields are slightly higher than 2019 and the first tastings predict a very nice vintage.

Location

The vineyards are located on the slopes of Mont Ventoux. The altitude offers freshness, which provides a good acidity level to the grapes. The wine is therefore fresh, fruity and well balanced.

Terroir

This varies according to altitude but consists for the most part of deposits left around the base of the chalky Mont Ventoux by the seas of the Tertiary period. Red Mediterranean soils blend with chalk debris and round stones.

Winemaking

This is adapted to suit each wine, grape variety and producer. Each grape variety is harvested and vinified separately in order to respect the maturity of each varietal. The harvest date is determined by analysis and tasting of the berries. The grapes are destemmed and crushed. The extraction is done during fermentation in cement tanks with pumping over. After fermentation, the wines are racked and then blended before aging for 10 months.