2013 Cairanne, Réserve des Seigneurs, Domaine de l'Oratoire Saint Martin
About this WINE
Domaine de l'Oratoire Saint Martin
Our search for a top-notch Cairanne has led us to the Alary family in L’Oratoire St Martin. The family can trace its origins to the same decade as Berry Bros. & Rudd (1698 for us, 1692 for them) and now farms over 28 hectares, in the middle of which there was once, apparently, an oratory of some description.
Low yielding old vines are farmed biodynamically and the wines are vinified first in opentop fermenters and then in large foudres of 3,400 litres.
Cairenne reserve des Seigneurs is produced from vines planted on clay-limestone soils and 50-year-old vines. The blend is made up of 60% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre and 10% Syrah. Pumping over for 12 days, followed by nine months’ ageing.
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
There is a little more Mourvèdre than usual in the 2103, unsurprisingly, giving it equal billing with the Grenache. Syrah makes up the balance with 20% .The wine captures the essence of the village for me; it is open, with a bright red-fruit personality and a spicy kick at the end lending gravitas and food matching potential.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
Certified as biodynamic in 2012, L’Oratoire St Martin is run with great skill by brothers François and Fréderic Alary, both leading players in the long-overdue movement to get Cairanne promoted to stand-alone ‘cru’ status. According to Frédéric, 2015 may well be the year; 2013, on the other hand, was the year to tax the accountants, given the miniscule yields of Grenache that were farmed. The wines that were made are impressive, probably best approached in relative youth, which is no bad thing.
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