2013 Côtes du Rhône Villages Rouge, Visan, Native, Dom. Dieu-le-Fit, Pouizin, Rhône
About this WINE
Remi Pouizin
Rémi and Geraldine Pouizin of Domaine Dieu-le-Fit are at the top of their game. Demeter accredited from 2016, we are delighted to be working with them for our Own Selection Côtes du Rhône. Rémi inherited most of his vineyards from the property known as Fourmente, where he built his own winery. Their wines are given branded names as they are essentially assembled from different plots. Red clay and pudding stones are at the lower altitudes, then “saffre” (sandstone) is just above the village itself. The more varied garrigue-strewn soils sit on the plateau heading in the direction of Rasteau.
Working organically is part of Rémi’s family philosophy; his grandparents grew fruit and vegetables organically in the 1960s. Rémi insists, “If I can drink a product, I am happy to put it on my vines. If it would be poisonous to me, it doesn’t go anywhere near them.” Clearly, there is honesty and integrity in everything the couple does.
Côtes du Rhône Villages
A clear step up from basic Côtes du Rhône in terms of both quality and price, the Côtes du Rhône Villages appellation covers an area of 5,700 hectares entirely within the Southern Rhône. About 15 percent of the size of its generic counterpart, it offers mostly excellent, very good value wines from all three hues that are more serious, concentrated and interesting.
Red wines dominate, made up of a minimum 50 percent Grenache, at least 20 percent Syrah and Mourvèdre, and no more than 20 percent from 10 other named varieties. Out of 95 communes that are eligible to use the Villages name, the finest 18 of them have the right to append their village name, as long as the wine is exclusively from that commune. The classification is quite fluid though, with Gigondas, Vacqueyras, and Beaumes de Venise and Vinsobres and Rasteau having been upgraded to AOC status, and other villages like Massif d’Uchaux and Plan de Dieu being added.
Best enjoyed from two to 10 years of age, the best wines probably come from Cairanne and Sablet, but all are well worth a look. The whites are rapidly improving and are delicious in their first three years. Rosé wines are made from the same cépage as the reds and are usually very good.
Recommended Producers: Chapoton, Domaine Cros de la Mûre, La Soumade
Southern Rhône Blend
The vast majority of wines from the Southern Rhône are blends. There are 5 main black varieties, although others are used and the most famous wine of the region, Châteauneuf du Pape, can be made from as many as 13 different varieties. Grenache is the most important grape in the southern Rhône - it contributes alcohol, warmth and gentle juicy fruit and is an ideal base wine in the blend. Plantings of Syrah in the southern Rhône have risen dramatically in the last decade and it is an increasingly important component in blends. It rarely attains the heights that it does in the North but adds colour, backbone, tannins and soft ripe fruit to the blend.
The much-maligned Carignan has been on the retreat recently but is still included in many blends - the best old vines can add colour, body and spicy fruits. Cinsault is also backtracking but, if yields are restricted, can produce moderately well-coloured wines adding pleasant-light fruit to red and rosé blends. Finally, Mourvèdre, a grape from Bandol on the Mediterranean coast, has recently become an increasingly significant component of Southern Rhône blends - it often struggles to ripen fully but can add acidity, ripe spicy berry fruits and hints of tobacco to blends.
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Description
As usual the Native is a blend of 70 percent Grenache and 30 percent Syrah-the latter adding bright, lifted fruit to the ensemble. The biodynamic viticulture lends gravitas but does not diminish in any way the expressive purity for which this property is justly lauded- in fact, quite the reverse. Drink now to 2017.
Simon Field MW - Rhône Buyer
Rémi Pouizin formerly made wine at his father’s property, Domaine La Fourmente, just outside Visan. Now he has branched out on his own, buying a magnificent 19thcentury château in the heart of the village, and securing a biodynamic accreditation for his vineyards, which essentially remain the same. Only the legal structure and the location of the winery have changed substantially: the essence of the excellent Domaine La Fourmente still remains, albeit a little improved and with a new, divinelyinspired name.
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