Côtes-du-Rhône Villages Plan de Dieu 2020

The 2020 vintage is characterised by its precocity and a very beautiful aromatic expression. The harvest started 7 to 10 days earlier than the previous vintage. All the conditions were met for a very promissing vintage: a rainy autumn ensuring an optimal replenishing of the ground water reserves, a mild and dry winter and a summer period marked by temperature spreads between day and night, ideal for fruit and acidity balance. The result: magnificent, healthy grapes, an early ripening and a beautiful maturity for all of the Domaine’s appellations.

The vines lie between the villages of Travaillan and Camaret sur Aigues, on the vast alluvial terrace created by the Ouvèze, an once powerful sub-Alpine river.
This terrace is an accumulation of large round stones and limestone gravels, with a sprinkling of flint. Sand and clay form the matrix of these larger elements. This layer can reach up to 25 or 30 meters deep along the ancient riverbed. Subsequently, important climatic upheavals altered the surface of this terrace, breaking down the limestone, developing ferous oxides and the apparition of more recent claybeds, which provide the Plan de Dieu with its characteristic red-brown hue.

Harvested on 2nd September 2020. The two grape varieties are vatted together. Fermentation on indigenous yeasts. Cold pre-fermentation maceration (12°C) for 5 days. Light pumping over to favour smooth tannin extraction. 24-day maceration followed by pressing with reincorporation of the press wine to the free-run wine for this vintage. Aged in vats for 10 months. Bottled on July 28th 2021. 4 756 bottles and 196 magnums produced. Vegan friendly.

Open 2 to 3 hours before serving  between 13° and 15°C.