Winemaker Notes
For many years Jérôme Bressy helped establish the reputation of Rasteau but when the AOC began to limit the varieties permitted in the wines labelled Rasteau, Jérôme decided to leave the appellation and bottle his wines as IGP Vaucluse. Made entirely from estate fruit grown in the village of Rasteau, Jérôme’s rouge is a blend of Grenache, Carignan, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Counoise, Cinsault, Vaccarèse, and Terret Noir from vines between 30 and 100 years old. The exposure of these low-bearing, head-pruned vines is northwest and southwest – providing both freshness and power to the final blend. Harvested by hand and triple sorted the grapes are crushed and fermented in tronconic vats by indigenous yeasts then aged in concrete, foudres and demi-muids.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
No special cuvées this year, just a red and a white. Very small yields of just 10 hl/ha in 2016 - a year he compares to 1990 or 2007. This was a tasting of three different parcels that go into the final red blend. The vines from the slopes give a deeply fruited, juicy but fresh wine, full-bodied but not massive, with a distinctly resinous seam and fairly low acidity. The vines from the foot of the hill provide a vibrant and elegant raspberry scented wine with a powerful mineral undertow. The higher altitude old vines provide the deeply vinous bass notes. This is promising to be a compelling, powerful Gourt de Mautens for long ageing. Drinking Window 2022 - 2030
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Jeb Dunnuck
As to the red, the 2016 Vaucluse reminded me of the 2007 with its incredible opulence, sweetness of fruit, and flamboyant style. Awesome black raspberry and strawberry fruit characteristics all intermix with notes of incense, white and black pepper, fruit cake, plums, garrigue, and Asian spices on the nose. Full-bodied, deep, and concentrated on the palate, it doesn’t pull any punches and the sweet fruit scale (I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a kiss of residual sugar here), yet has beautiful purity, no hard edges, and a fabulous, clean, dry finish. It took plenty of air to show at its best and will benefit from just short-term cellaring. It’s one of the sexiest wines in the vintage and will keep for a decade.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
A long and narrow valley producing flavorful red, white, and rosé wines, the Rhône is bisected by the river of the same name and split into two distinct sub-regions—north and south. While a handful of grape varieties span the entire length of the Rhône valley, there are significant differences between the two zones in climate and geography as well as the style and quantity of Rhône wines produced. The Northern Rhône, with its continental climate and steep hillside vineyards, is responsible for a mere 5% or less of the greater region’s total output. The Southern Rhône has a much more Mediterranean climate, the aggressive, chilly Mistral wind and plentiful fragrant wild herbs known collectively as ‘garrigue.’
In the Northern Rhône, the only permitted red variety is Syrah, which in the appellations of St.-Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage, Cornas and Côte-Rôtie, it produces velvety black-fruit driven, savory, peppery red wines often with telltale notes of olive, game and smoke. Full-bodied, perfumed whites are made from Viognier in Condrieu and Château-Grillet, while elsewhere only Marsanne and Roussanne are used, with the former providing body and texture and the latter lending nervy acidity. The wines of the Southern Rhône are typically blends, with the reds often based on Grenache and balanced by Syrah, Mourvèdre, and an assortment of other varieties. All three northern white varieties are used here, as well as Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Bourbelenc and more. The best known sub-regions of the Southern Rhône are the reliable, wallet-friendly Côtes du Rhône and the esteemed Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Others include Gigondas, Vacqueyras and the rosé-only appellation Tavel.