La Chapelle de Marin, Cotes du Rhone, 2019

We source La Chapelle de Marin from three parcels - La Combe d’Antide, Les Sablières and La Beraude – owned by Patrice Armand, a Cairanne neighbor of Domaine Boutinot Rhône. His 40ha of vines, like ours in Cairanne, see plenty of sunshine throughout the year and benefit from both the Mistral wind – which keeps things cooler and disease-free – and higher than average rainfall. Soils are poor with a high limestone content and sandy soils on lower slopes, hence the name of the lower parcel ‘Les Sablières’. The three parcels comprise of 4ha of Grenache Noir, 2ha of Syrah and 1ha of Carignan, 7ha in all. Here vieilles vignes (old vines) are between 60 and 70 years old and, in their old age, are achieving low but concentrated yields of 45hl/ha. Hand picked bunches are carefully destemmed and vinified using traditional ‘minimal intervention’ techniques. This wine is made without the use of oak to retain the pure fresh fruit character.