The Domaine Guintrandy Vieilles Vignes label - 90 year old vines
The regular bottling off this high value Cotes du Rhone Villages Visan has been a huge success . Now I have received a very limited amount of Olivier's very old vineyard cuvee that he bottles separately, Same care in the wine making but much lower yields, more profound flavors. Don't miss the chance to experience what a difference old vine, lower yield production delivers in this 80 year old vine, 80% Grenache bottling.
Is it even possible that the southern Rhone has done it yet again?
Wine Spectator rates the 2009 southern Rhone vintage a 93-96! "A cross between '05 and '07," Wine Spectator raves, "with ripe fruit and polished tannins."
Robert Parker agrees, bestowing a 93 on the southern Rhone vintage, and writing, "At the minimum, 2009 is an excellent vintage in the south."
It looks like more great news from the
southern Rhone. In fact, this is a drinker's
vintage: sumptuous, readily accessible fruit
and soft tannins.
Of course, all wines from the same area are not created equal, even in a great vintage like 2009, and as La Revue du Vin de
France
wrote, "If you want to
understand Visan, then Olivier Cuilleras is
your man."
The hierarchy of Rhone wines is as follows: while there are some lovely Cotes du Rhones, a Cotes du Rhones-Villages is decidedly a step above, and above that, there are nineteen communes authorized to append their respective village name on the label (as in this Cotes du Rhone Villages-Visan), which is an indication of their superiority.
How selective is the difference between Cotes du Rhone and the Cotes du Rhone Villages-named villages? Pretty selective - they represent the top 7-8% of the southern Rhone vineyards.
The wines coming from Visan are more
precocious than many other area commune. Its altitude (about 100 meters above other villages), and the high concentration of Grenache (over 80% at Domaine de Guintrandy), and the varied soils
around the small hilltop village benefiting
from the slope, make wines of complexity, concentration and structure.
The Cuilleras family has owned the Domaine de
Guintrandy since 1850. Olivier is the sixth
generation to work the vines here. Olivier's
first vintage was in 2000. He took over the
family estate from his father who up until
that time had been selling his grapes to the
cooperative. That was the way things went
back then, but Olivier had other ideas. He
wanted to make his own wine and put the name
Cuilleras on the label and on the map. And
that is what he has done.
Olivier uses a blend of almost 80% Grenache
(the rest
is Syrah) in his "old vines" bottling. The
results are
striking and complex.
He does not filter his wines which means all
the flavor that is created from the juice
mingling with the skins during the
elevage does not actually get removed
before the wine gets into the bottle and you
and I get to drink it. He uses a combination
of new and old barrels to age the wine. The
vines in the Vieilles Vignes bottling
are very
old - 80
years!
His estate is on top of a hill which makes it
less vulnerable to the scorching weather on
the valley floor. Olivier has some of the best
soil in the region - clay and limestone -
great drainage on the top and water retention
down below to pull the roots through those
times of drought.
This is one of the best Cotes du Rhones-Villages (and
Rhone
values) I've
found. It's got its fruit in all the
right places. Cynthia Hurley
Note that supply is limited there are
only 35
cases of the 2009 Vielles Vignes
available and
the 2007 sold out very rapidly.
To order just reply to this email. Or
call the store at
518-789-3899. Note This is a special
offer and
is only available via reservation, the wine
is not yet in the store. Your
order will be here
early next week. Little Gates & Co. Wine Merchants
