The Southern Rhône Valley is, for me, like Greek mystic philosophy (I’m thinking Plotinus here): just when you think that you have a grasp on what is going on, the firmament shifts and the new level of understanding you have provides you with further questions that seem far harder to answer than the questions you originally had. The Southern Rhône, particularly Châteauneuf du Pape, has been one of my first, and most endearing, passions in wine. But each time I think that I have discovered the code that allows me to tell good from bad, and great from merely good, a wine comes along that breaks the mold entirely and introduces me to a new group of wines that are yet more profound, and less well-defined.
Two of these recent life-changing revelations are joined in Roucas Toumba. Vacqueyras, where Roucas Toumba’s meager 3 ha (about 7 acres) of vineyards are located is one such discovery. Vacqueyras is higher, stonier, and more remote (relatively) than Châteauneuf du Pape. The wines have more minerality, brighter fruit, and more of the Provençal herbiness that is such a charming character of wines from the southeast of France. Vacqueyras doesn’t get the love it deserves, in part because for many years the winemaking there didn’t do justice to the terroir: that is changing, quickly.
The other revelatory discovery I have made in the Rhône is a movement towards hyper-natural wine producing. In the case of Roucas Toumba, this means no chemicals in the vineyard or winery, no synthetic materials (read plastic), no commercial additives (chaptalization, acidity, tannins etc), and a minimum of new oak (he purchases a few barrels each year so that he can rotate them in). This approach is particularly suited to the Southern Rhône becase of the dry, windy, hot conditions that naturally control rot and other vine scourges, as well as the generally old vines that are in great supply.
Eric Bouletin, is the fiery proprietor of this family estate named Roucas Toumba, which means tumbling stones, after the 18th century home on the property. Out of the total production of 1100 cases, 300 cases of the top wine, this Vacqueyras, are made from roughly 60% Grenache (aged in large neutral oak), 25% Syrah (aged in small barrels), 12% Mourvedre and 3% white varities. Think blackberry, Cherry Heering, herbs de Provence, grilled meat, and minerals. Try it with grilled halibut, roast lamb, anything with mushrooms and herbs, or olives. Drink now – 2025.
Link to a great via Michelin article (in French, sorry) about Roucas Toumba
This is the first of two Syrahs this month. I thought a study of two styles, both of which I find stunning, would be a great rumination on why Syrah can be such a special wine.
