2019-C Domaine de Gouye Vieilles Vignes Saint-Joseph, Rhone Valley, France (750ml)
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A Quarterly Red Cellar Trio Wine Club Selection
Just delicious! Classic northern Rhône Syrah flavor profile, with black olive, white pepper and smoked meats. Firm and structured. Break out now with a winter stew, grilled steak or braised short ribs.
Established in 1933, Domaine de Gouye is located high above the village of Saint-Jean de Muzols in the northern Rhone Valley. The domaine consists of just over seven acres of old vines planted 1,050 feet above sea level, surrounding the family house and cellars. The vines stand proudly on the steep hillside, individually staked, and bound by handtied ribbons of straw, in rows that are still, to this day, plowed by horse. In the cellar, a vertical press from the year 1886 sits ready for the next harvest. At Domaine de Gouye, winemaking follows tradition not because it is romantic but because it is the “most efficient” way says winemaker Philippe Desbos, the third generation of his family to craft Syrah wines from this windswept perch.
The Desbos family practices sustainable farming, and while not certified adheres to organic practices as much as possible. 100% Syrah from their oldest vines (some as old as one hundred years), the grapes were harvested by hand. The full-cluster fruit was foot-stomped in upright ancient wooden vats, and then fermented on indigenous yeasts (with very little added sulfur) in the naturally cold cellar dug into the granite hillside. The resulting wine was aged in older French oak barrels for 16 months and bottled unfined and unfiltered.