I have been holding this perennial old vine favorite for quite a while. We tasted it when it arrived and thought it would improve with some additional months in bottle. Now after sitting in our cellars for a bit over a year it has expanded and rounded to be a beautiful expression of old vine Grenache.
Southern Rhone 2012
2012 is a wonderful full flavored very ripe vintage. "Deeply flavored wines with round, gentle tannins and expressive fruit character. The best wines will age slowly but even they show plenty of forward character and can be drunk with pleasure after decanting." - Vinous May 2014.
Jancis Robinson MW
"Much more successful than 2011. 2012 was a low-acid year in both the northern and southern Rhône. Alcohols are roughly average, but volumes are down by up to 15% on 2011. Clement weather late in the season made for relaxed harvesting however, and vignerons are optimistic about the results which seem to combine ripeness with some freshness.
"Generally speaking the '11s, from a cooler year, are forward and almost all ready to drink, while the wines from the warmer 2012 vintage are broader and fleshier, with darker fruit character and stronger tannins. They're also a year younger, so keep that in mind. It's the rare 2012 that won't benefit from a little aeration if you plan on opening it right now, but there's no need to overthink it. These are mostly wines to enjoy soon after release, for their fruitiness and vivacity, Vinous S. Tanzer
Of course, even in a fine vintage like 2012, all wines from the same area are not created equal. To fully experience this very fine vintage it pays to hunt down the best winemakers and, even better, ask about their limited cuvees, which are selections from their best vineyards. One of those dedicated and talented winemakers in the Cotes du Rhone is Olivier Cuillaras at Domaine La Guintrady in Visan. La Revue du Vin de France (France's most respected wine journal) writes, "If you want to understand Visan, then Olivier Cuilleras is your man."
Domaine Guintrandy's "Deves," the regular bottling from this high value Cotes du Rhone Villages Visan estate, has been a huge success. Now I have received a limited amount of his very old-vineyard cuvee, Vieilles Vignes, which Olivier harvests and bottles separately.
The vines in "Vieilles Vignes" average 80+ years old, the yields are 40% lower than for his regular wine, and under Olivier's sure guidance this 90% Grenache bottling offers up concentration, superior flavors and complexity that showcase the potential of Grenache from the Visan appellation and of the southern Rhone, all at a price that makes this first-class wine experience accessible.
The hierarchy of Rhone wines is as follows: while there are some lovely Cotes du Rhones, a Cotes du Rhones-Villages is decidedly a step above, and above that, there are nineteen communes authorized to append their respective village name on the label (as in this Cotes du Rhone Villages-Visan), which is an indication of their better vineyards and and potential to make superior wines.
Only 7% of the Cote de Rhone vineyards qualify for this higher level designation
The wines coming from Cotes du Rhone Villages-Visan are notably more precocious than wines from other Rhone villages. Visan's higher altitude, the high concentration of Grenache (90% in this Domaine Guintrandy), the varied soils (clay, limestone) around the small hilltop village benefiting from the slope, make wines of complexity, concentration and structure.
The Cuilleras family has owned the Domaine La Guintrandy in Visan since 1850. Olivier is the sixth generation to work the vines here. Olivier's first vintage was in 2000. He took over the family estate from his father who up until that time had been selling his grapes to the cooperative. That was the way things went back then, but Olivier had other ideas. He wanted to make his own wine and put the Domaine La Guintrandy name on the label and on the map. And that is what he has done.
He has had a major impact of the domaine's wines with outstanding efforts year after year. Never satisfied, Olivier took all his vineyards organic 3 years ago. It takes four harvests to gain organic certification, but the full benefits of expressiveness, softer tannins, and much more faithful representation of his terrior are all evident in his 2012's. Organic certification has may requirements including all hand harvesting and the elimination of herbicides and other chemicals in the vineyard. It also requires the use of very low sulphite levels and natural yeasts so their are no artificial flavors introduced in the fermentation. Using natural yeasts lengthens the fermentation from a few days to a few weeks. It is a lot of extra work but Olivier believes that it is worth it in terms of getting the most from his family's vineyards.
His estate is on top of a hill, which makes it less vulnerable to the scorching weather on the valley floor. Olivier has some of the best soil in the region - clay and limestone - great drainage on the top and water retention down below to pull the roots through those times of drought. Olivier uses a combination of new and old barrels to age the wine, and does not filter it.
80-year-old vines, incredibly low yields, organic methods, the agreed very fine vintage in 2012 - all under the care of the top winemaker in the appellation make Domaine Guintrandy's Vieilles Vignes 2012 a profound wine experience not to be missed. This is one of the best Cotes du Rhones-Villages (and Rhone values) I've found. It's got its fruit in all the right places.
-Margot Hurley, Cynthia Hurley French Wines
