Château d'Aussières Rosé
The vintage
The winter 2021 brought lower temperatures than the previous four vintages. The vines were hit by several successive frosts, with a particularly severe one during the night of 7 to 8 April that damaged some of the plots that were relatively advanced in the growth cycle. This was the most intense period of frost since 2017, and the most extensive that Domaine d'Aussières has experienced. The other significant weather factor was the very low rainfall, which delayed the restarting of the vines’ growth after the frost. The soil’s water reserves were only replenished at the very end of the season, after the harvest. These extreme weather conditions delayed the growth and development of the vines and the ripening of the grapes. The harvest started on 13 September, two weeks later than in 2020.
The weather was favourable during the harvests. A few days of rain interrupted the picking schedule, but they were welcome in that they helped the final stage of the late-ripening grape varieties.
Location
The estate is nestled in the rugged hills just behind the Mediterranean coastline of Narbonne, in the South of France.
Terroir
Specific plots have been selected for this wine, conducted with an organic farming approach. This wine will carry the in-conversion “CAB” label. During the entire vegetative season, the vines have been tended with the idea to produce a rosé that would render the complexity and finesse of its terroir.
The blend consists mainly of grenache noir, combined with Syrah. Thanks to the cooler situation of Aussières, our Grenache mature slowly, developing a wide palette of delicate fruity aromas. It contributes greatly to the elegance of the wine and confers its silky mouthfeel. Syrah adds a zest of freshness to the blend and contributes to the balance between generosity and tension.
Winemaking
The wine making process presents as little intervention as possible in order to express the intrinsic quality of the grapes.
When arriving at the cellar grapes are immediately cooled down to preserve their aromatic freshness and left to macerate for a couple of hours inside the press to extract the finest aromatic component from the skins.
The grapes are then delicately pressed with a strict selection. Only the finest batches were kept for this premium rosé and overall, 50% of the initial volume had to be discarded.
The must is then kept for 10 to 15 days at a temperature between 3 to 5°C, we call it stabulation à froid, prior to fermentation.
20% of the wines are fermented in new oak barrels to add complexity to the wine whilst the rest is fermented in stainless steel tanks. Once fermentation is completed the wine is kept for four months on its lees with regular bâtonnage before being assembled and bottled.
Only 9000 bottles of this exceptional rosé were produced in 2021.
Grapes
Tasting
The wine has a beautiful light peach-pink colour. The nose is fine, elegant, complex, combining notes of fresh fruit (Mara des Bois strawberry, pomegranate, pear) with thyme honey. On the palate, the attack is round and powerful. The bouquet aromas reappear, enriched with generous notes of strawberry savarin and lemon mint. The wine is full-bodied and long with a lingering finish that that mingles notes of red fruit and liquorice.
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