About this WINE
Domaine la Cabotte
Purchased in 1981 and owned by the Plumet family ever since, the domaine has grown from 10 to 30 hectares of vines, with an additional 12 hectares coming on-stream this year, and 1.5 hectares in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It is certified organic and farmed biodynamically. The mainly limestone and sand soils of the plateau of the Massif d’Uchaux are very poor in nutrients. This enables them to produce wines of real finesse and elegance in comparison to those from neighbouring appellations. Eric and Marie-Pierre Plumet believe that managing the environment around the vineyard is essential for a site’s health – from maintaining their 15 hectares of forest, to regulating water and the influence of wind, to promoting biodiversity. Son Etienne has been part of the team here for the past few years and is taking biodynamic innovations forward with his parents. Across the board, their wines are pure, mineral and fine.
The 2021 vintage was just as challenging for this domaine as it was for their neighbours, however, here Etienne talks of how their biodynamic approach saved them. He states that, after spraying vines that were 40% frosted with a valerian tea-infusion, the grapes recovered, leaving only 5% final damage. The freshness of 2021 is hugely complementary to Cabotte’s beautiful purity of style. These are wines with great ageing potential, especially La Sauvageonne. Etienne recently tasted a vertical of this wine from the last decade and each one was fresh as a daisy. The Colline Blanc is from the warmer and more fruit-forward 2022 vintage which Eric and Marie-Pierre describe as “one beautiful vintage in the making”.
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.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
With ripe red cherries delicately emerging, this feels like a proper, mineral Grenache. Pure, peppery Syrah adds freshness: it is almost water-bright with fine black cherries overlaying a stony core. Vibrant yet subtle energy sings through whilst a coating of fine tannins lingers on the impressive finish. This is a gorgeous little wine.
Catriona Felstead MW, Senior Wine Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd (March 2022)
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