Domaine de la Grange des Pères DOMAINE DE LA GRANGE DES PÈRES, Pays de l’Hérault, La Grange des Pères Rouge 2016

Description

One of Languedoc’s iconic estates the Domaine de la Grange des Pères has made an impressive 2016 Grange des Pères. Soft and sweetly fruity, it is a wine that can already be drunk great. The bouquet of olive, pepper and sweet dark fruit has a full richness, without edges and ripe tannins. This is a cuvée that can age, but there is certainly nothing wrong with enjoying this vintage in its youth.

Laurent Vaillé founded the Domanine Grange des Pères in the early 1990s. It has almost 10 hectares of vineyards in the famous hills of Aniane, within the Côteaux du Languedoc AOC. However his wines cannot carry the AOC label as he uses unauthorized varieties within the AOC: they are Vins de Pays de l’Hérault. While its red has achieved the status of iconic Languedoc wine, its white (900 bottles produced annually) is also highly sought after.

Laurent Vaillé, a former physiotherapist, started this domaine in 1992 after working for some of the greatest vignerons in France, including Gerard Chave of the Hermitage and Coche Dury in Burgundy. For Laurent, it was a welcome return to his family’s wonderful heritage and he now has 11 hectares of Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards in Aniane.

The Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon vines are located in the north on limestone soil at an altitude of 300 meters, while the Mourvèdre is facing south on pierres roulées, as in Chateauneuf du Pape. The yields are reduced to a minimum of 25 hl / ha thanks to the thinning of the bunches and the manual sorting of the grapes. It uses “reasoned” viticultural practices, minimizing the use of chemicals, cultivating the soil, removing the leaves to let the generous sunlight into the foliage and making a green harvest where necessary.

The vinification is in traditional style, each variety is vinified separately using natural yeasts and long maceration. The wines spend up to 24 months in cask (a third new), but the oak is perfectly integrated even at the time of release.