Domaine Houillon - Vielles vignes 2019
Domaine Houillon is located in Faucon, in the Vaucluse, at the foot of Mont Ventoux in the Rhône Valley. The 9-hectare estate, made up of vines, woods and moors, has been managed by Charlotte and Aurélien Houillon since 2017. Aurélien Houillon is originally from Franche-Comté. From an early age, he was initiated into the secrets of the vine and natural wines with Pierre Overnoy in Pupillin in the Jura. In 2007, he moved as a partner of Maison Pierre Overnoy. In 2014, he moved to Switzerland and converted a domain to biodynamics and extended his experience in natural wines to new grape varieties. Doctor of Letters, Charlotte Houillon (née Touati) is a specialist in ancient manuscripts. Her research led her to make long stays in China and Ethiopia, where she learned the traditional methods of making paper from plants, as well as the art of natural pigments. The Domaine's bottles are manually labeled with vine shoot paper produced on site. The Domaine is run in organic farming. In the cellar, Aurélien applies the Jules Chauvet vinification method. It does not use any oenological input (yeast, fining agent, sulfur etc.) and respects its raw material (no filtration, work by gravity), in order to leave the wines all their aromatic expression and their aging potential. The wines produced at the Domaine are natural wines in the strictest sense of the term.
The Vieilles Vignes cuvée is made from Grenache, which is around 70 years old. The harvests are manual and the grapes are carefully sorted. The harvest is entirely destemmed, followed by a 14-week maceration in stainless steel vats. The wine is then aged for 10 months, in barrels having contained 7 to 8 wines.
Grape variety: 100% Grenache