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71 Cairanne Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages AC 2007 Cuvée Prestige
Domaine de l’Oratoire Saint-MartinGrape:60% Grenache, 40% Mourvèdre (14% alc.)
This is the domaine’s top unoaked cuvée, from vines aged up to 98 years, yielding on average just 18hh. It offers characterful spicy, red fruit, liquorice and a hint of thyme and freshly milled black pepper. For drinking now to 2015+.
Technical Information Winemaker: Fréderic & François Alary. The Alary family have worked the vineyard since 1692. Location: Cairanne (north-east sector of appellation, only 200 mtrs from edge of Rasteau appellation) Size of
domaine:28 hectares (15,000 bts Cuvée Prestige produced) Grape: 60% Grenache, 40% Mourvèdre – planted in 1905. 5000 vines per hectare in gobelet formation planted on Rupestris du lot rootstock. Selection massale. Terroir: Limestone clay with lots of river pebbles – on 20° slope. Mourvèdre faces due south – grenache to the south-east. Quartier called St Martin. Viticulture: Planted on rootstock not found today. Plough between the rows – plough 3 rows and leave grass herbs to grow in the 4th. Lots of herbs can be found – rocket v. noticeable. No chemicals have ever been used in the vineyard. The vine roots reach 15mtrs in length. Vines are gobelet, pruned to 5 branches with 2 buds on each branch. Debud and carry out vendanges en vert. Use sulphur against oidium. Yields vary between 18-25 hectos per hectare. Vinification: No artificial yeasts, and sulphur added only at bottling. Meticulous selection of grapes. Made first in the vineyard and then via a table de trie both in the vineyard and the winery. 90% destalked, keep stalks from bunches harvested the latest. Use cement for vinification and elevage. Chill down to 8°C or 10°C for 3 days then saturate with C02 to clear oxygen; after average 3 days alcoholic fermentation starts; max temperature at 28°C is very low - 20 days of cuvaison. Use 1 remontage every day, no pigeage since 1997 or delestage. Keep cap submerged below the level of wine at end of fermentation only. Pneumatic press. Press wine kept separately. Racked 3/4/5 times syrah & mourvèdre most, grenache less. 1st after malos finished in Feb/March. Unfiltered but fined with egg white. August bottling with their own equipment. Press: