About this WINE
Chateau Valcombe
Luc and Cendrine Guénard at Château Valcombe farm organically, owning 28 hectares in the foothills of Mont Ventoux in an appellation traditionally known as Côtes de Ventoux, the name of which was shortened in 2009, for whatever reason, to Ventoux pure and simple. Be that as it may, Valcombe is the leading light (or ‘phare’ as the French put it rather nicely) in the appellation.
Their well-named Epicure cuvee is sourced around St Pierre de Vassols, a town at an altitude of 190 metres in the lee of the Dentelles de Montmirail. The blend is 60% Grenache, 25% Carignan and 15% Syrah.
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
Epicure is sourced around St Pierre de Vassols, a town at an altitude of 190 metres in the lee of the Dentelles de Montmirail. The blend is 60% Grenache, 25% Carignan and 15% Syrah, all de-stemmed in 2012 and fermented in concrete tanks. An elegant red-fruit attack is matched by harmonious mid-palate notes of pit-cherry, soft spice and bitter chocolate. A very well-named wine!
Simon Field MW, Rhône Wine Buyer
Luc and Cendrine Guenard farm Château Valcombe organically, owning 28 hectares in the foothills of Mont Ventoux. Côtes de Ventoux, since 2009 and for no immediately obvious reason, is now known as Ventoux only. Be that as it may, Valcombe is the leading light (or phare as the French put it rather nicely) in the appellation. There has been a lot of focus and applause for the great wines of villages such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas over the last few decades; now some of their lesser known neighbours are moving towards the limelight…
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