Domaine Martine Rouchier La Chave Saint-Joseph AOP 2021

This small family Domaine of 1.5 hectares is situated in the heart of the Saint-Joseph appellation, in Ardèche, the Northern section of the Rhône wine region in Southern France. Although her family had for many years supplied grapes to a large local négociant, Martine Rouchier and her husband, Christian, determined in 2010 to begin making their own wine.

They immediately began converting their vineyards to organic viticulture, a process that they completed beginning with the 2013 vintage. By 2015, Martine and Christian were practicing not only completely organic and biodynamic farming and fermentation. but also fully “natural” winemaking, in that their Saint-Joseph is made entirely without added sulfur.

Domaine Rouchier produces two cuvées parcellaires of 100% Syrah: Luc is a .5-hectare lieu-dit of vines planted in 1972 on the hills above St-Jean de Muzols. The vineyard lies on a west-facing slope at an elevation of approximately 250m in soil comprised of clay and schist.

Chave is a 1-hectare lieu-dit planted with vines dating to 1958. With Western exposition, Chave lies on soil dominated by granitic gneiss.

Both cuvées employ two weeks of whole-cluster fermentation in concrete over indigenous yeasts, punctuated with pigeage (punching down) and remontage (pumping over). The young wine is then aged over for 16-18 months in neutral (5-9 years) oak barrels of 228L . The finished wine is then bottled unfiltered and entirely without SO2.