I hate to say goodbye
Rouge, Ardèche
50% Carignan 50% Grenache Noir
“I hate to say Goodbye” is the last part of a juice from a devatting of Carignan 2019. The juice had a color between dark violet and deep black and was close to be undrinkable. For that reason, we kept the juice apart for some time and by chance we had some Grenache Noir left which turned out to work very well with the Carignan and it created a new balance in the wine. We left the wine in old barriques for about a year before bottling and then another 18 months in bottles. Time worked well for this wine and were finally ready to be drunk and to say goodbye to us.
Si tu chantes avec moi, on chantes tous ensemble
Blanc, Ardèche
100% Grenache Blanc
This wine is the juice from the very last day of a 4 day press direct of Grenache Blanc. The juice was so caramelized and oxidized that it was difficult for us to like it. Therefor we didn’t feel like blending it with the rest. We kept the juice apart in a demi-muid to ferment for about two years. Now it’s in bottles and has become one of our favourites. It confirms that you never really know, what there will be at the end of the road, until you’ve walked all the way. (Note: despites the color is it not an orange wine)
Let’s go disco
Rosé, Ardèche
All red grapes, many different kinds
As always for our rosés, it’s only press direct. Fermentation in fibre cuves in our cellar for nearly 10 months. No soutirage, all fermentation has been on the yeast. Bottled in June 2020. There is still a little bit of sugar left (10-12 grams) that maybe will give the wine some small bubbles.
Very floral and fruity rosé, in the style of “Freedom of Peach” witch we made in 2014. As we haven’t made soutirage the flavor of the yeast is still to be found, it gives it a taste of an unfiltered Junmai Sake. For me interesting.
La Femme à qui?
Pet Nat, Ardèche
50% apples 25% Cabernet Sauvignon 25% Merlot
Our PétNat of 2019 is 50% juice of apples (organic of cause) from a farm near Valvignères and 50% juice of red grapes from Domaine du Mazel mainly merlot and cab.sau. The juice of the grapes and the apples have been co-fermenting since the pressing of the apples. The color is as you’ll see, like a rosé, light/peachy. Taste-wise, the nose gives a sensation of cider, but on the palate, you’ll only find the flavors of wine. This blend of flavors is very very interesting. The bobbles are small and delicate. There’s no sugar left, so a dry PétNat.
Now is when I know I love you
Blanc, Ardèche
100% Chardonnay
Only press direct. A long and slow press of 4 days in the old wooden pressoir of Jocelyne & Gérald Oustric. This wine is made from the last part of the juice of the press, so only the very last day, with no maceration. When that’s said, the juice has been exposed to a lot of oxidation during the pressing and therefore the wine has a color between deep yellow and light orange. The fermentation took place in a 500lt demi-muid barrel in our cellar for almost 10 months. No soutirage, no topping up, bottled in July 2020. You can say it’s an orange wine, but in fact it’s not, as it hasn’t been in maceration and therefore even despites the color technical a white wine. Any way, you feel the tannins from both the grapes and the barrel in which the wine has been fermenting. We like the dry bitterness that balances very well with the presents of the acidity.
I can see you from the other side of the Valley
Blanc, Ardèche
60 % Grenache Blanc 40% Viognier
Both varieties pressed for 3-4 days vertically on the wooden pressoir of Mazel. The juice was directly transferred into our oak foudre where the following fermentation took place. We didn’t make any soutirage – we left the wine on the yeast. “I can see on the other side of the Valley” is bottled the 11th of July 2020 with 8-10 grams of residual sugar, wish still is present in the wine – so a little light sweetness. A white wine with a light sweet expression of exotic fruits and flowers, like jasmines, white roses, litchi, almost pineapple-like flavors. All these aromas are followed up by both saltiness and acidity extracted from the skins when the grapes were slowly pressed.
RdT
Rouge, Ardèche
Raisins de Table
The destemmed Raisins de Table (Muscat Blanc, Muscat Noir, Chasselas, Italia, Ribol Noir and Cardinal) and Grenache Blanc have been macerated in the direct pressed juice of Syrah for around 6 weeks. After maceration the grapes were pressed for 3 days in our little vertical pressoir. The following fermentation took place in barriques for almost 11 months without soutirage or any topping up. All fermentation has been on the yeast (sur lie). We bottled RdT the 22nd of August 2020. Light red wine with a very solid expression. On an aromatic level many things are going on… Both Muscat and Grenache Blanc are very easily recognized, but it’s all the other rapes that are building the backbone of this wine.
We forget to easily
Rouge, Ardèche
Carignan, Chardonnay & Sauvignon Blanc
The blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc was initially meant to be a white wine, but in search of balance and freshness we started to add juice from Carignan and later also destemmed grapes of Carignan. This slowly turned our white wine into a red. 2019 is one of the greatest, but also warmest, vintages since a long time here in Valvignères. We started to harvest very early compared to other years and even though the grapes fast reached a high level of sugar and therefor would become wine strong in alcohol, we didn’t find the grapes ripped in the way we like them to be. The balance simply wasn’t there. By adding Carignan and letting the grapes macerate for 6 weeks in the white juice it helped us find to balance we were looking for. But this also left us with a red wine with very dominant tannins. Because of that we’ve kept this wine in barrels for close to 3 years, the time in demi-muid have helped to soften up the tannins as well as the rich structure of the wine. Without forgetting the warm vintage of 2019, we finally found the lighter and more approachable balance that we like so much.
Les Vignes des Enfants
Rouge, Ardèche
100% Petite Sirah
Petite Sirah or Serinne if you like. 10 days of maceration of destemmed grapes in a fiberglass cuve. After décuvage the wine fermented for 4 years in old barriques. No soutirage, one or two time we topped up the barrels. We did this to slow down the oxidation and, in that way, preserve the flavors of the primary fruit, some important in wines from warm vintages like 2019.
C’est dans les yeux qu’on le voit
Rouge, Ardèche
75 % Grenache Noir 25% Chardonnay
A very special wine, both to us – but also in general. We wanted to make a white wine, but the white juice didn’t please us, so we added first and white juice from a direct press of Grenache Noir, which helped. But it didn’t really give the wine what we wanted therefore the discission to add destemmed grapes of Grenache Noir, these macerated in the juice for a little more than 6 weeks. From there the wine went into to Demi-Muid, where it has been ever since. No topping up, no soutirage. A hint of oxidation, still 35 unfermented sugars. So, a red wine with another character than what we normally make.
I Was Born in a Small Town
Blanc, Alsace
100% Pinot Gris
Maceration for 2-3 days of the destemmed grapes. Not enough to get color neither the typical orange-wine-flavor, but enough to extract a little but very distinct saltiness. After décuvage the now fermenting juice went directly into barrels here the wine stayed for 4 years, without any soutirage or topping up of barriques. This have made the wine oxidative.
It’s the smell of the pine trees by the sea that I prefer
White, Alsace
Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris & Gewürztraminer
This wine is a rare example of an assemblage from our cellar. It was made a long time after the grapes where harvested and pressed. By the time of bottling, we decided to assemble a few single wine barrels, all 2019, but all deferent blends. This left us with a more balance and yet complex expression of the different barrels. And some more volume than the single barrels could offer us. We made this assemblage in May 2024 and believe that the wine now after six months, in bottles, are ready to be drunk. As all our barrels, they haven’t been topped up and the wine have therefor developed oxidative notes.