Cuilleron Saint Joseph Cavanos
WHY WE LOVE IT
- It has a complex nose with a mature aroma of red fruits with a bit of graphite.
- Well balanced mouth. Fleshy and velvety tannins offer a lovely length with a spicey freshness.
- Can be drunk young but also laid down for a decade or so.
Varietal Composition: 100% Syrah
Elaboration: Grown from a selection of old vines (20-40 years) from hillside terraces featuring muscovit granitic soil. “Cavanos” is not a district but a cuvee brand from Chavanay’s fields.
The high-density planting (8,000-10,000 vines per hectares) utilizes natural cover cropping to avoid erosion. No insecticides are used, respective of soil and vine balance and the few treatments (depending on weather and necessity) include small applications of organic fertilizer. Precise control of vigor and yields is maintained through leaf stripping and a green harvest for better grape maturation. Disbudding occurs in spring.
The grapes are hand-picked and sorted, crushed, and partially destemmed in the cellar. Fermentation occurs in open top, temperature-controlled vats for about three weeks with regular cap-punching and pumping-over. Alcoholic fermentation follows in vats using native yeasts with malolactic fermentation in barrels. Maturation takes 16 months in barrels.
Tasting Notes: Complex and intense nose. Mature aroma of red fruits with a bit of graphite. Well balanced mouth, fleshy and velvety tannins offer a lovely length with spices freshness
PRESS
n/a
PRODUCER BACKGROUND
Cuilleron Estates is a producer in the northern Rhône. The estate has been in the Cuilleron family for three generations, but it is the estate’s current owner and winemaker, Yves Cuilleron, who has expanded the size, scope, and scale of the vineyard, land holdings, and winery.