Grand Saint-Cyr Cumelle Côte-Rôtie 2020
Grand Saint-Cyr Cumelle Côte-Rôtie 2020
Grand Saint-Cyr, a cult winery on a tiny, vertiginous 1.5ha site within the Cumelle lieu-dit in the Côte Brune, the northernmost part of the appellation in the commune of Saint-Cyr-sur-le-Rhône. The site, attached to the elegant ancestral family home of siblings Aude Chapuis and Hervé Gibert since 1936, remained unplanted for over fifty years, allowing it to return to wild forest. Cumelle is a plot with such extremity of slope and difficulty of cultivation, that it was abandoned by past generations of their family. The site was born in 2012 when Aude and Hervé reclaimed their vineyard from the forest and Grand Saint-Cyr was born.
The site was replanted in the traditional goblet style with three different types of old syrah clones selected for complexity and genetic diversity, including the highly prized, indigenous sérine clones. Viognier was also planted with respect to the traditional composition of Côte-Rôtie, playing an important role in the final blend of Grand Saint-Cyr, averaging around 10%. The result is an incredibly elegant, fresh, and energetically classic wine. The terre brune soil of the site consists of mica and schist in which the source rock is sometimes only a foot beneath the soil.
The project has been farmed organically since the beginning and the plot was previously forested, so the vineyard has never seen chemical treatment. They are currently in the multi-year process of obtaining organic farming certification. Soil cultivation and harvests are carried out exclusively by hand.
The philosophy in the cellar is one of respect for the quality of their terroir, with a natural fermentation utilizing native yeasts and sulfur added judiciously at fermentation, depending on the vintage. No sulfur is added at bottling.
Owing to Aude’s long relationship with the renowned Guigal family, the entirety of the production is fermented and aged exclusively in used Tonnellerie Château d’Ampuis barrels. Needless to say, the prestige of the barrels is fitting to the seriousness of the site.