Famille Perrin Vacqueyras Les Christins - 2021

Our Vacqueyras Les Christins is a great example of a Grenache based wine from the Southern Rhône, with remarkable aromatic expression, immense structure, and huge ageing potential.

2021 is a vintage marked by freshness, which is similar to the vintages we had in the eighties and nineties. It is also what we call a "winegrower vintage", human intervention and the care given to the vines were decisive for the quality of the vintage. Marked by climatic vagaries, with an episode of frost in April and interrupted harvest because of rain, this year has indeed required constant investment from our teams in the vineyard. Their attention and their commitment have borne their fruit: this vintage is very promising with lots of freshness and great balance.

Situated south of the Dentelles de Montmirail, our tenant farmed 8 hectares of vines at Sarrians are managed by the Château de Beaucastel team. They are old vines of an average of 50 years of age.

Stony terraces of clay, sand and sedimentary safres, with particularly good sunshine exposure.

The Grenache and Syrah vines are planted together, which is fairly unusual and quite difficult since the difference in maturities between the two varieties can be some 5 to 10 days. The harvest date is therefore based on the maturity of the Grenache, with the Syrah being harvested very ripe. They are picked by hand and on arrival at the cellar they are sorted, crushed, and vatted. Fermentation is quite long and extraction is obtained by manual cap punching. Vinification is quite classic, with little use of wood. The grapes are all vinified together, which allows for a certain synergy in extractions – the wine develops a good concentration of aromas but without any harshness, with lovely spicy notes from the Syrah. Following malolactic fermentation and blending, the wines are aged in foudres and barrels for one year.