M. Chapoutier Neve Cote Rotie Rouge 2020

Description

M. Chapoutier Neve Cote Rotie Rouge 2020 is part of Chapoutier’s Fac et Spera Sélection Parcellaire range of wines, a range of specially selected parcels of single vineyard wines which Chapoutier describe as a “precise ‘photographic’ image of a terroir”, a snapshot of a grape, in a certain year, in a given terroir. Fac & Spera means “Do & Hope”.

Maison Chapoutier has grown into one of the largest and most recognisable producers of Rhone wines. The company dates back to 1808 when Michel Chapoutier’s distant ancester Polydor Chapoutier bought a parcel of vines in the Rhone Valley. Today the Chapoutier has vineyard throughout the Rhone from Côte Rôtie in the north to Luberon in the south as well as having overseas projecs like Domaine Tournon in Victoria, Australia. Michel is committed to making the best wines whilst respecting the environment. Chapoutier now owns the largest biodynamic vineyard in Europe. It is his personal conviction that “the complexity in a wine comes from the level of microbiological activity around the vine roots”. Soils on the Chapoutier estate never see pesticides or herbicides, floral growth amongst the vines is essential, and the natural cycles of earth, sun and moon are also considered.

M. Chapoutier Neve Cote Rotie Rouge 2020 is 100% Syrah. The grapes come a 1.5ha single vineyard Syrah from the ‘roasted vineyards’ of Côte-Rôtie planted on schist and mica soils. This wine’s spicy and floral notes result in a more direct expression of this hillside’s composition.

Grapes are hand harvested at peak maturity. Vinification takes place in concrete tanks. The harvested grapes are completely de-stemmed. Native yeasts are used for the alcoholic fermentation. During the fermentation, the temperature is allowed to gradually rise to 30- 32°C. The vatting period lasts from 4 to 5 weeks with regular pumping over operations carried out at the start of the maceration, followed by some cap punching. The maceration is completed by a stirring of the lees over the last 3 weeks. The wines are tasted each day to decide when they should go into barrel for fermentation. The wines go into barrel “hot” after running-off and 24-48 hours sedimentation to eliminate any remaining solid matter
and the coarsest lees. Ageing is carried out entirely in 228-litre barrels of which 25-30% are new. The wine is racked at the end of the winter. Ageing can last 14-18 months
depending on the vintage.