Famille Perrin Côtes-du-Rhône Villages Rouge - 2017

This wine is produced by the Perrin family, using the same viticultural and wine-making techniques used at Château de Beaucastel.

This 2017 vintage will be remembered as the year of all records: the driest year in 30 years, non-interventionist vineyard work, optimal harvest conditions, a very small yield due to climatic hazards, and wines with very rich potential.
Back on this very technical vintage with great potential. 2017 began with a particularly dry and mild winter, resulting in a precocious vine. After a sudden drop in temperatures in the early spring with severe frost in several areas, temperatures rose again well above seasonal averages. The flowering was fast, with important and extensive shatter on Grenache and Carignan. The vineyard, however, remained very healthy. The summer was exceptionally hot and dry, leading to a very early start of harvest in mid-August. Harvest lasted until October 5 with ideal conditions, alternating hot days and cool nights. The cellar work was very technical and precise and the first tastings reveal wines with a great potential, very well balanced and aromatic that should be among some of our best vintages.

Just 20% of the Côtes-du-Rhône vineyard is entitled to add the word ‘Villages’ after the words ‘Côtes-du-Rhône’. These are the best vineyard sites.

Stony terraces over clay and limestone and gravel.

The harvest date is determined by checking the ripeness of the grapes with analysis and tasting the berries. As soon as they arrive at the winery, the grapes are sorted and destemmed. The fermentation takes place in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks between 150hl and 190hl. The extraction is done by pumping over and the frequency is determined by tasting. After racking and malolactic fermentation, the wines are transferred partly to oak barrels, partly to oak Foudres and finally the rest goes into stainless steel vats where they will be aged for a year.