Domaine St. Patrice is located in the centre of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. In 2009, Guy Julien and his son Jérôme took over the estate. For the first five years, they sold their wines to a local négociant, but that changed in 2014 when Samuel Montgermont started working with the two gentlemen. He was so impressed by the wines and therefore felt it was time to bottle and release them himself. And so it happened...
Back in the 1930s, the Clos St Patrice vineyard was known as one of the best plots in the region. But not only that, this clos is now also among the oldest in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The plot covers 1.8 hectares and is planted with old grenache and mourvèdre vines. In addition, the clos is a monopole. That means the vineyard has only one owner and is not shared with other vintners. The grapes for the other two cuvées come from different lieux-dits, including Cabrière, Le Pied Long, Les Terres Blanches, Les gallimardes and Les Marines. The soil consists of sand with white clay and is covered with red cobbles. All plots are farmed organically. After the manual harvest, about 20% of the bunches are destemmed.
In the cellar, too, they proceed as naturally as possible. Fermentation is initiated by using natural yeasts. Maceration and fermentation take place in cement vats. Then maturation begins. For all three wines, it is 14 months. Only the Clos St Patrice matures in cement vats, the Châteauneuf-du-Pape in casks and barriques of French oak and the Côte-du-Rhône on a combination of these.
The best vintages are: 2016, 2018 and 2020
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