2022 Hervé Souhaut La Souteronne

WINEMAKER: Hervé Souhaut
REGION: Ardèche, FR
VARIETY: Gamay
VITICULTURE: Organic

"La Souteronne is made from Gamay - the vines are between 70 to 90 years old. This is, like the Syrah, truly superb - floral, fruit driven Gamay with an edgy mountain freshness and an attractive Rhône accent that gives it an incisive, meaty drive. It has an exquisite aroma, is luscious, crunchy and incredibly moreish - a desert island wine for me and very popular, so be quick!" - Andrew Guard

The Domaine Romaneaux-Destezet was created in 1993 by Hervé Souhaut. His holdings on the acidic granite soils of the northern Rhône and the southern Ardèche are a mixture of new and ancient vines — from 50 to100 years old. Hervé's holdings are minuscule, only five hectares and he employs only organic viticulture and natural winemaking techniques. This domaine is one of the most respected producers of wine in the area.

The methods of Jules Chauvet are followed here, which is to say grapes are hand-harvested and then the whole bunches undergo a pre-fermentation maceration at low temperature. Fermentation follows using natural yeasts in wooden and concrete tanks – the wine is then aged on fine lees in seasoned oak casks for eight to twelve months. Following that there is just a teeny dose of sulfur at bottling, which is done without filtration.