RHoNE VALLEY

The Barrot family first settled in Chateauneuf in the beginning of the 17th century, when Alexandre Barrot bought his first plot. The estate has been passed down from father to son ever since.

Today, Domaine la Barroche has 12.5 hectares of vines, where traditional varieties are planted, including Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Cinsault, Terret Noir and Clairette. The average age of the vines is 60 years old and one third of the vineyard (Grenache) is 110 years old making the very singular cuvée Pure.

Julien Barrot is a firm believer non-interventionist practices, his meticulous approach implies keeping the wines from different grape varieties in different types of containers depending on their personality and structure and letting them evolve separately. The grapes undergo a cold maceration in concrete vats; extraction is very gentle to retain more fruitiness. Syrah and Mourvedre are put in 2 years old burgundy barrels, while Grenache is raised in foudres and steel tanks. Aging is done on the lees so the wine is not being racked.

These are resolutely traditional Châteauneufs, with the cuvée Signature showcasing everything you could possibly want from the appellation, and the rare cuvee Pure being a wine that rivals the very finest in the appellation.

🍀 ORGANIC

12.5 ha

The Balthazar domaine dates back to 1931, when Franck’s grandfather Casimir founded it. It was, however, only in 2002 that Franck left his engineering career to take over his father’s work on the steep granite slopes of Cornas.

The domaine’s vineyards are planted exclusively to Sérine, the ancient local clone whose small, olive-shaped berries produce a wine of greater aromatic complexity than modern syrah clones. Another key to the superb quality and character of Balthazar’s Cornas are the domaine’s great holdings. These include not only half-century-old vines in Mazards but a 1914 planting of Sérine in the revered Chaillot vineyard. Balthazar is also slowly expanding the amount of land under vine; a true son of Cornas, Franck has created terraces and planted vines on previously overgrown land on the steep Légre slope above the parcel of Sabarotte.

Made with ancestral methods, which have changed very little from those of his grandfather, Frank’s wines are some of the most expressive, elegant and traditional wines in Cornas.

He works almost entirely with whole clusters, and looks for a long and soft maceration of 13 to 14 days before the fermentation with native yeast in concrete vats is allowed to begin. The wine is then aged in old, neutral demi-muid barrels before being bottled without fining or filtration.

Textbook Cornas, the wines of Franck Balthazar are wines of stunning depth, concentration and complexity.

🍀 ORGANIC

4 ha

Aurélien Houillon is originally from Franche-Comté. He and his brother, Emmanuel, had the chance to meet Pierre Overnoy when they were young and learnt viniculture and winemaking by his side. When Pierre Overnoy retired, the two brothers took over the management of the legendry Maison Pierre Overnoy in Pupillin. In 2007, ready for new adventures, Aurélien decided to leave Jura and moved to Switzerland. There he guided a domaine through biodynamic conversion and extended his natural winemaking experience to new grape varietals. In 2016, Aurélien and his wife, Charlotte, settle in Roche Coucourde a lieu-dit at the bottom of Mon Ventoux in the south of France. A year later they produced their first vintage.

Their estate covers 9 hectares of vines, woods and fields. The couple practices organic and biodynamic farming. The soils are worked mechanically, without the use of pesticides, and are enriched by the fertilizer provided by their farm animals.

In the winery, Aurélien applies Jules Chauvet's method of winemaking. There are no additions or unnecessary manipulations in the cellar to respect the fruit and allow the wines to express their terroirs. All the wines are unfiltered and bottled by gravity without sulphur. The bottles are manually labeled with paper made at the domaine from its own vines.

The wines produced at Domaine Houillon comply with the specifications of the Côtes du Rhône appellation and are natural wines in the strictest sense of the word. The wines are intense, fresh and elegant. An estate to watch!

🌙 BIODYNAMIC

9 ha

• When Jérôme Bressy created Domaine Gourt de Mautens in 1996, Rasteau was a fairly obscure Côtes-du-Rhône Villages . But with his family’s old vines and their naturally low yields and his incredibly careful viticulture and winemaking, he burst on the scene, completely redefining what Rasteau was capable of

• Jérôme has evolved in his approach to winemaking, taking inspiration from the wines of Château Rayas, the late Henri Bonneau, and Lalou Bize-Leroy among others

• With vines aged up to 100 years, low yields of only 10-15 hl/ha, biodynamic farming and very traditional winemaking methods, he seeks purity and complexity in his wines. Despite not bearing the Rasteau appellation anymore, these are remarkably true to their origin and have garnered a cult following

🌙 BIODYNAMIC

13 ha