Domaine Clusel-Roch Les Grandes Places Cote Rotie, Rhone, France 2021

The first time you set your eyes on the hills of Côte Rôtie, it is impossible not be overwhelmed with their beauty. The cliff-like granite hillsides seem to have burst from the Earth with vigor and violence. Only the truly dedicated would decide to make their living there. No tractor on Earth can plow these vineyards – everything has to be painstakingly done by hand. This is the place that Domaine Clusel-Roch calls home.

Based in Verenay, the northernmost village in Côte Rôtie, this tiny 3.5 hectare domaine is run by Gilbert Clusel, his wife Brigit, and their son Guillaume. Gilbert’s grandfather planted the foundation of the winery in 1935, the vineyard now known as ‘Les Grandes-Places’, using a low yielding clone of Syrah called Serine. All subsequent plantings have been selection massale from that vineyard, a rarity in the region as higher yielding material became more prevalent. The Clusel family was also early believers in the advantages of organic farming, and would become pioneers of the movement within the region as they converted fully in 1990.

This cuvée is the most emblematic wine of the domaine produced in the lieu-dit Les Grandes-Places, above Verenay. The yields are relatively low, between 30-35 hl / ha, and the vinification is traditional — little destemming and a 15-day fermentation. The ageing is in 50% new oak and 50% in one year old oak. The wine spends two years in barrels. This cuvée produces approximately 10 barrels a year. The first vintage was in 1988. Since 1990, the entire parcel has been bottled separately, with a production of just 2,500 bottles. 

This single Vineyard is a pure expression of the dark mica schist soil of the northern part of the appellation - Côte Brune producing dark, slightly smoky, heavier & powerful wine with muscular tannic structure.