HWG Price Book May-Aug 2017

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The Henry Wine Group

character with distinct finesse and clarity. The Vinsobres Cru consists of a selection of the best terroirs of the region. Only 1300 hectares of the 1800 have been selected based on the geology and exposition (south- exposed vineyards only have been included in the cru delimitation). The non-selected parcels will be allowed to produce 'simple' Côtes-du-Rhône AOC, which means that the AOC Côtes du Rhône Village disappears. RASTEAU AOC: In 2010 the red wines from this former Côtes du Rhône Villages were elevated to AC status. 75% of the appellation’s vineyards are hillsides rising between 500 and 1000 feet, and the region features smooth, stone covered clay- limestone terraces. It has been long considered a top red Côtes du Rhône Villages wine. Rasteau’s application to be elevated to a specific AOC - Crus des Côtes du Rhône - as a dry red wine took almost a decade to be approved. The winegrowers’ syndicate requested it 2002, but experts from a board of inquiry studied the vineyards and excluded some 100 hectares from the then 1300 ha before granting the status. GIGONDAS AOC: a top-quality former Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages that was promoted to AC status in 1971, Gigondas’ 1,230 ha produce one of the most authentic wines of the Southern Rhône. This is where Roman centurions of the famous Second Legion built their country villas in the first century AD, away from the garrison of Orange. Located in the western flank of the Dentelles, this is a cooler, higher spot, and the name comes from the Latin jocunditas, meaning delight or merriness. Gigondas is fortunate to have a large proportion of fairly high vineyards, promoting slower ripening patterns. This not-too-hot climate ripens grapes to full maturity, with ripened phenolics and sugars resulting in dark, rich, robust reds with ripe, herbal and plummy flavors. Red and Rosé are made mostly from Grenache (maximum of 80%) with at least 15% Syrah and Mourvedre, and a maximum of 10% other grapes. No white wines are permitted. VACQUERAS AOC: elevated to AOC status in 1990, the south-facing, sun-soaked vineyards of Vacqueras

produce some of the Southern Rhône’s most punchy, powerful wines. The soils here are typical – a garrigue of stone covered sand, red clay, and limestone, with traces of marine fossils from thousands of years ago. At 1,394 ha, it is larger than any local cru except for Châteauneuf-du-Pape. An early-ripening vineyard, Vacqueras can produce reds and rosés from a minimum 50% Grenache, plus at least 20% of Syrah and Mourvedre, and no more than 10% in total of other grapes. The wines show a peppery combination of dark fruits with garrigue and cedar, with deep, baked red fruit flavors predominant on the palate. Whites (actually quite rare), are from Grenache blanc, with Clairette, Bourboulenc, etc. Wines from this appellation remain excellent values. BEAUME DE VENISE AOC: the red wines of Beaume de Venise have become the 14th AOC of the Rhône. The new appellation covers four communes, including the eponymous Beaume de Venise, from the department of the Vaucluse, south of the Dentelles de Montmirail Mountains, which are based on limestone (The other three are Lafare, Suzette, and La Roque-Alric). All wines within the AOC must contain at least 50% Grenache and 25% Syrah, with a typical blend being 65% Grenache and 35% Syrah. The wines show earthy, spicy aromas and leathery textures that encompass black fruits, with a thread of tannin that can require a year or two to round out. Post cru status, the white and rosé wines of the region have been downgraded to the Côtes du Rhône category. CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE AOC: the most well-known of the southern Rhône Appellations dates back to Gallo-Roman times. In 1157 the Bishop of Avignon, Geoffry, planted and personally managed his own estate on this ancient winegrowing land. By the time of the dual Papacy in the 14th century, when Pope Clement V arrived in Avignon in 1309, the wine from the village was in great demand. Pope John XXII constructed a “new castle” between 1318 and 1333 as a summer residence. This became part of the line of fortifications encircling Avignon, and remained standing until the retreating Germans blew it up in 1944. On the viticultural

side, the region, after being devastated by phylloxera in the late 1800s, began a slow return to form, and by 1923, under the energetic guide of Baron Le Roy of Château Fortia, had established a set of strict rules for the production of wine that became the model for the entire AOC system in France. The region is known for its amazingly stony soil, the surface of which is covered, in varying amounts, by rounded pudding stones or galets , which range in diameter from that of an egg to larger than a man’s fist. They store the heat of the sun and reflect it back onto the vines at night, resulting in elevated grape sugars (the Appellation had, for years, the highest minimum alcohol content in France, at 12.5%). Here the “symphony of 13 grapes” (although the allowance of both Grenache blanc and noir and Picpoul blanc and noir really make it 15) makes up the blend, with Grenache dominating (and restricted to a maximum yield of 35 hl/ha, or 2 tons/acre, hand-harvesting only), followed by Mourvedre, Syrah, Cinsault, Muscardin, Vaccarese, Picpoul, Terret Noir, and Counoise. Four white grapes are allowed (a fifth, Grenache blanc, is counted as Grenache): Clairette, Bourboulenc, Picardin, and Roussanne. There has been a modern change in winemaking and “cepage”, resulting in a variety of styles, but the wines fall into 2 basic categories- the traditional, full-bodied, dark, spicy, long-lived style and the full or partial carbonic-maceration method easy-drinking modern style, brimming with up-front juicy, jammy fruit. Very stringent regulations are enforced here that ensure that only fully-ripe grapes in healthy condition are utilized: “le rape” requires that 5 to 20% of the grapes harvested within the maximum yield are rejected and declassified to vin de table . A small amount of white wine is made from the permitted white grapes of the appellation, and the top examples are rich, with an opulent, exotic fruit style and refreshingly crisp finish. LIRAC AOC: located on a soil base of red clay, quartz chippings, and limestone, was once only an appellation for rosé wines, but production of high-quality, fruit- forward reds, from Grenache, with Syrah, Mourvedre, Carignan, and

May–August 2017

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