DOMAINE DE L'AUSSEIL (Roussillon, France)
La Capitelle 2005
Field blend of roughly 50% Carignan, 30% Syrah, and 20% Greanche. Hand picked over several weeks in September. Fermented whole berries (with stems) with wild yeasts. Slight pumping over. Gravity fed to 225L barrique to age. Bottled without filtration and low SO2.
In 2001, a new family moved into the tiny village of Latour de France, in the heights of the Pyrenees Mountains. It was not by gypsy travel or accidental breakdown. Jacques, Anne and the two children de Chancel landed here to wrest old vines from co-op production, proving that great terrior wine could be made. After years of making wine for others (Bordeaux, Portugal and Chile) the family went in search of vines of their own. Amazingly remote, the old vines atop this wild land were in the budget and in the proper state to invest in. Seated 300-400M above the Mediterranean, with a glimpse to the Atlantic behind, they found old vines of Carignan, Macabeo, Grenache (in varied colors), Muscat, Mourvedre, and Syrah. Not a bad purchase for a team with such winemaking history. With the wind swept wilderness (and we mean windy!), they had to learn their terrain quickly, but it was easy to introduce their natural farming ideas. Jacques works the soils of schist and granite with cover crop and homemade composts. Not a drop of chemical is used. Every thing is wild and free (unharmed) in the fields (convenient as they are avid bird lovers!). The same ideal carries through to the gravity-fed cellar, with wild yeast fermentations, minimal manipulations and low SO2 needs. Jacques has many cuvees brewing at once, learning as he goes but rewarded with his patience. All this reveals the pure fruits, spices and flowers of the land around them, with elegance and concentration. It is a wild place to call home indeed. Their yields are ridiculously low and the 'capitelles' can only protect you from so much wind. The little place to call their own however, is a hidden diamond in the rough. A team sharp enough to polish this to organic luster, with breed of more 'sophisticated' wine locales, could not be found elsewhere.
Field blend of roughly 50% Carignan, 30% Syrah, and 20% Greanche. Hand picked over several weeks in September. Fermented whole berries (with stems) with wild yeasts. Slight pumping over. Gravity fed to 225L barrique to age. Bottled without filtration and low SO2.