Ventoux Rouge & Luberon Rosé

Around April 8, 2021 a cold wave hit many European countries, including the south of France. Fortunately, in the Calavon valley, the budburst was quite late and only the plots of Oppède had started to grow when the cold came to destroy the work of 6 months… and thus the income of a whole year. This does not mean that the frost did not affect the other plots, but as they were still in the budding stage, the damage were less important.

In mid-September 2022, part of the harvest had already been put into the tanks of the cooperative. We had just harvested the Oppède grenaches and had confirmed that a severe frost followed by an important coulure can cause important damages in terms of yield per hectare. Fortunately the quality was there, the grenaches of Pierredon fed the vats of rosés that make the success of the cellar of Bonnieux (as well as the whole of its range).

On Thursday September 23rd, before sunrise, the two plots of Syrah and the four rows of Vermentino located in Bonnieux were harvested to be vinified into Luberon rosé.

On Wednesday September 29th, again on Saint-Michel’s day, Patrick harvested for us the parcels of grenaches of Patys, the syrahs and the mourvèdres of Gardi.

Saturday, October 16, 2021, we sacrificed to the rite of the end of harvest meal. Three generations of farmers were seated in front of the reception docks. Generous plates of paellas were distributed from table to table, bottles of white, rosé and red wine were passed from one guest to another.

We all were happy to be reunited after twenty months of pandemic, confinement, and other restrictions of freedom. Everyone enjoyed to be together. Under a blazing autumn sun, with the massive silhouette of the Marquis de Sade’s castle on the horizon, and facing south, at the top of the village, the old church of Bonnieux, a masterpiece of Romanesque art, whose restoration the cooperative supports by donating the profits from a special cuvee sold for its benefit.

That day we talked about the fermentations of the two tanks of Year 2. The rosé was finished, it had to be relocated. The red was living its life… under surveillance, like milk on fire. That morning, after having taken a new series of photographs to illustrate the bottles of Année 2, and with the aim of feeding the iconography of this website, I suddenly had a thought for Bertrand Tavernier as his words resonated strongly with me in this multicolored autumn.

March 6, 2022, winter is over, the wines are now clear, ready to be bottled. The rosé, made from a blend of mostly Syrah and Vermentino, has a beautiful pale pink color, an expressive nose of citrus and small red fruits, and a tender, fruity, lively and refreshing mouthfeel. It is scheduled for release in April.

The red wine, a typical GSM blend, was presented at the wine competition in Orange and won a gold medal at the beginning of February! What an honor, first competition, first gold medal! We are very proud of it and thank all the people who participated in the elaboration process, from the winter pruning to the final racking for this first success.

As planned, each year the assembly and the label will be different, so that neither you nor we get tired of this beautiful (but arduous) adventure on the path of taste.