The "Cuvée Rare" bottlings are Alice’s selection of barrels and careful blending. Elegant yet generous, serious yet accessible these wines reflect Alice’s own personality. Wines that break the ceiling of the Southern France in terms of quality and definition, closer perhaps what one would expect from wines made in the Rhône region. A fitting tribute to Alice and her fusion of Burgundian roots and Southern France upbringing.
Presentation
Presentation
Alice believes her wines should first express the utmost respect for the primary material ... site, soil and vines. Her grapes are produced from single or at the most two organic or converting to organic vineyard sites, where the grapes are hand-harvested from vineyards of her own or her close neighbors, with whom she shares the ethics or work well done.
Terroir
Organically farmed old vines on Villafranchien soils. Distinctively Mediterranean in nature, it is home to compact clay which holds water in summer and pebbles that store up the sun’s heat and radiate it back by night and is a naturally low-cropping site.
Winemaking
Harvested by hand and the fruit is sorted in the vineyard. The grapes are destemmed and transferred to the press using a conveyor belt. Light pressing at very low pressure is used. The juice is then cold settled and placed in casks. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation occurs in Burgundy casks previously used for 2 or 3 wines and the wines are racked five months later.
Varietals
Grenache blanc : 40%
Grenache gris : 30%
Carignan Blanc : 10%
Rolle ou Vermentino : 10%
Piquepoul : 10%
Grenache gris : 30%
Carignan Blanc : 10%
Rolle ou Vermentino : 10%
Piquepoul : 10%
Specifications
Contains sulphites. Does not contain egg or egg products. Does not contain milk or milk-based products. No..
Advice
Ageing potential
Enjoy all year long, 5 to 10 years
Tasting
Barrel fermentation and aging, stirring of the lees—all these elements make for a powerfully rich wine, in which the wood acts as a carefully judged supporting act to the intense apples and cream fruitiness. There is just a touch of Burgundian minerality to give some structure. Lovely chalk and crushed stone notes greet the nose upon first sniff, riding atop aromas of fresh pink apple, white peach and honeydew. It shows nice balance between mineral, floral and plush fruit tones. The palate is medium in weight and forward in fruit, with bright acidity and lingering tones of orange pith and waxy melon rind that lend a softly bitter texture through the extended finish.
