Clos du Rouge Gorge, Cuvée du Patron, 2022

STORY BEHIND THE LABEL

This cuvée appears from time to time in the Domaine range. Very low extraction, full bunch fermentation, fermented and matured for 10 months in 500-liter demi-muid barrels, no new oak. The wine spends an extra month in vats to be naturally decanted. Unfined, unfiltered, bottled with a micro-dose of sulphur.

Cyril Fhal launched his 5-hectare estate in 2002 in Latour-de-France, just 5 km from Calce, home to numerous renowned winemakers. The young Parisian, his viticulture/oenology diploma in hand, had been on the look out for parcels in the region when he stumbled upon these old vines – between 50 and 100 years old – which no one wanted to work, because they were planted on steep slopes unsuitable for mechanised farming. A veritable godsend for this young winemaker with an eye for quality and nose for opportunity. Thanks to this living heritage, today Cyril makes some of the finest wines in France. In the vineyard, the estate is cultivated biodynamically, with ultra-low yields of 15 to 20 hl/ha. In the winery, he vinifies without additives, and little sulphur. Cyril uses gravity in place of pumps in the cellar, to ensure his juice is handled as gently as possible. You may not even have heard of this vigneron, it’s because his cuvées rank among the most rare, racy, subtle, and elegant in France.