Boutinot

2014 has once again seen success for Boutinot Rhone 'Fide et Arte' wines at the ‘Romancing the Rhône Shootout, organized by California based ‘Affairs of the Vine’.

Five wines in the range were awarded a Gold medal, topping last years tally of a Double gold, Gold and Silver medal.

Once again the red wines in the range faired exceptionally well with 'Les Coteaux Schisteux', Côtes du Rhône Villages Séguret 2011 and  'Les Coteaux', Côtes du Rhône Villages 2011' achieving Gold  together with the newly revived style of Cairanne 'Les Six', Côtes du Rhône Villages, Cairanne 2011, blended from ancient  Rhône varieties, also receivin a Gold medal. 

Both the white and rosé in the range, entered for the first time, were also awarded Gold medals. 

Commenting on the five winning wines from the Boutinot 'Fide et Arte' range judges said:-

'Les Coteaux Schisteux', Séguret, Cȏtes du Rhône Villages 2011 – Gold Medal
"Big and bold color. Rich cooked fruit aromas. Savory fruit with luscious spice. Beautiful layers of dark cherry and anise. Lovely acid on the long finish. 90"

"Profound nose of cassis, liqueur, berries, cherries, meat, cola, and licorice. Interesting European-style flavors of this wine with minerals and meat enhancing the fruit and yet it is very fruit forward. Mouth filling! Alive, dense and chewy. 90"

'Les Coteaux', Cȏtes du Rhône Villages 2011 - Gold Medal
"Earthy nose then raspberry, black cherry and rhubarb notes with a touch of black licorice. The aromas replicate on entry. The tannins are refined. Balanced. Dark berry underlying the spice and fruit. Intensely built...meaty! 90"

'Les Six', Cȏtes du Rhône Villages Cairanne 2011 - Gold Medal
"Rich fruit forward bouquet...strawberry jam, toast, chocolate covered black cherries, and white pepper with hints of vanilla and coffee. The nose carries through onto the lovely palate. Nice acidity and refined tannins. 91"
"Aromas of wild strawberries, violets, plums, blackberries, white spices, and a smoky note. Full bodied entry of plum and berries with vanilla on the mid-palate. Concentrated flavors fruit are enhanced by licorice back notes. Big flavorful finish. 91"

'La Fleur Solitaire', Cȏtes du Rhône Blanc 2013 - Gold Medal
"Bright fresh lemon and floral notes in the glass. Bosc pear and Comice pear accented by tart lemon in the mouth. Very well balanced. Lovely! 91"

'Les Cerisiers', Cȏtes du Rhône Rosé 2013 - Gold Medal
"Lively palate with soft red fruit complemented by floral and spice notes. Tea and spice on the delightful finish. 91"
"This rose is bigger and bolder than it appears, and that's a good thing! Tangy and delightful finish. 88"

Now in its 3rd year the Rhône Shootout, organised by Barbara Drady, is a comprehensive tasting of Rhône style wines judged by a panel of wine professionals from the retail, restaurant and wine trade, wine makers and writers and educated consumers.

Wines are tasted completely blind without reference to appellation, vintage or price. Judging takes place over a three month period and, to avoid 'palate fatigue', each judge was limited to tasting only 32 wines per day.

There’s something very special about the southern Rhône: beautiful but tough, craggy yet easy on the eye, it has a “texture” you can practically inhale. This place just oozes history and colour, with traditions carved over centuries.

Our love affair with this region began in the early 1980s, when we first began making wine here. From the climate, the grapes, and the terroir, to the people and the cuisine – there’s no doubt that, for people like us, with an ambition to make great wines, the southern Rhône has it all.

Ten years ago, we spotted the potential of Cairanne when we released our first vintage of La Côte Sauvage. So it seemed natural, when a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity arose to buy a spectacular plot of vineyards in Cairanne, that we should choose to establish our winery here as well.

Now we have several plots of old vines we can call our own, as well as a working winery and cellar we are re-furbishing with loving care. Our dream is to create wines with world-wide recognition; wines which are fairly priced and wines above all, are made to be enjoyed.

We like to think of our wines as ‘hand-made’, with the emphasis on quality at every stage of the process.

In the vineyard, we use organic farming methods, though we haven’t chased official certification – we prefer to devote our energy to the vines. These we tend with great care to ensure they remain healthy, pruning them rigorously in order to keep yields low, and grape concentration high.

We select only the best grapes, with all picking done by hand, and each vineyard is picked when we determine that the grapes have reached optimum ripeness. Nature, not convenience, dictates when the harvest will take place.

We tend not to de-stem as we believe that this enhances the flavour. Next comes fermentation and we have invested in open top fermenters to aid the oxygenation of the wine. We allow the grapes a long cuvaison – typically 3 to 4 weeks – using gentle methods, even stirring by hand, to extract the colour from the skins.

At the end of this process we use our own basket press – a pressing method traditionally used for fruit and olives – to make sure we extract every drop of flavour from the grapes.

Some wines are transferred into wooden barrels where complexity is added through oak. We are unusual in our preference for using “demi-muids” – large, 600 litre barrels which have gone out of fashion for economic reasons, but which we favour because the ratio of oak to wine is lower and hence the oak influence is less heavy, and more integrated.

When it comes to bottling, our top down approach means we select only a proportion of each AOP wine to bottle under the name of the village. Only wine from the best tanks and barrels is selected and any wine which does not make the final blend is simply declassified to the next level – the accent at all times being on achieving the best quality for our wines, rather than the highest price.

The vineyards of Cairanne are either in the plain on the broad valley floor or in the hills above the village overlooking the landmark church at its heart. All our estate vineyards are on the hillside slopes of La Montée du Ventabren overlooking the church of Notre Dame de la Vigne et du Rosaire.

Our own estate is focused around six plots:

At the highest point on La Montée du Ventabren (altitude 300m) sitLes Six Terrasses (2) to the left and La Pauline (3) to the right. Both are of Grenache Noir, date from the same vintage (planted 1969), and are terraced vineyards, with 7 to the left and more to the right. (Flat terraces break up the slope and make the vines accessible to small tractors). These old bush vine Grenache Noir with their terroir of large, heat retaining pebble stones, produce low yields of deeply concentrated grapes. They are the envy of other growers and some of the best plots in the whole of Cairanne appellation.

At a slightly lower altitude through the estate woodland, is Font Crozes (6). Here in 2011 we planted Mourvèdre on the three well-prepared broad terraces of deep limestone and saffre (compressed sandy limestone). The plot is well-exposed to the wind, well suited to Mourvèdre – like Grenache Noir a late-ripening grape but one which will temper the power of the Grenache, bringing structure, deep concentrated flavours and a wild spicy note to the final assemblage. Perfect for a wine called ‘La Côte Sauvage’.

Just around the corner from Font Crozes is south/south-west facingSaint Andéol (1), planted with our oldest Grenache Noir. Planting records date back as long ago as 1946 with existing vines planted some 10 years later in 1957 and the most recent in 1964. Gloriously low-yielding and generally the last rows we pick. True gems.

In the trees behind this vineyard, protected from the winds is a grotto where the locals fashioned charcoal in a charbonnière.

Of course in addition to Grenache Noir the other grape variety essential to any Cairanne is Syrah. Lower down the same hillside to Les Six Terrasses and La Pauline are two plots, which we named La Ruche (4). Given the winery is the hive of activity for our winemakers, and the bee is the emblem of Boutinot Rhône, what better name for these plots than the word for hive in French?

The sixth plot is a small triangle above La Ruche called La Truffière (5), another virgin vineyard, raked sculpted and its soil prepared for planting in 2011. La Truffière was once a truffle orchard; and we carried out rigorous soil analyses before deciding that Syrah would be well suited to this terroir and well-matched to the older Syrah below in La Ruche.

Our philosophy is very simple – to make great wines.

For us, that means wines which are ready to be enjoyed as soon as they’re released, but which will continue to develop character and flavour when kept for several years. Wines which are testimony to the sheer hard work, commitment, skill and passion which has gone into the making of each and every bottle.

There are times when a vintage can be really tough, but at Boutinot we enjoy the challenge of nature, working just as hard in difficult years as in good ones to make great wine. Unlike some producers, who tend to buy grapes from a single source, we prefer to stay flexible, taking grapes only from the best growers and vineyards at each vintage.

If we had to sum up our philosophy in one word it would be “drinkability “ – we want to create wines which are there to be savoured, and enjoyed, especially with food, and which aim to bring out the flavours of the ingredients, rather than overpower them. To us the test of a good wine is one which leaves you always craving another glass!