Maison Tardieu-Laurent Saint-Péray Vieilles Vignes

Vintages follow one after the other, pleasure remains intact. A Cuvée which always brings its lot of emotions… and is now subject to the greed of the Amateurs of Great White Wines !

Presentation

The vintage
It took just a few days…few days to oscillate a vintage between a « Great Vintage » and a « Complex vintage ».
However, the winter, finally « classic », rocked by a fairly rigorous cold, pushed back any risk of spring frost.
The vegetative cycle was regularly watered by abundant rains. The diseases were putting pressure on the vinegrowers !
Nonetheless, the experience of the 2018, year with high mildew, still engraved in the vinegrowers’memory, made it possible for them to carefully control this pressure.
The vinegrowers serenly entered the summer season, with good water reserves and a beautiful harvest in perspective.
Moreover, rare fact, the summer granted us a few days of mild rain.
On August 15th, the rhodanien vineyards were healthy and green. The vinegrowers were rejoicing as everything was a hallmark to a “Great Vintage”.
Unfortunately, as is often the case over the last few years, Mother Nature decided otherwise. For a couple of days, the French vineyards, and most particularly the Rhône’s suffered a wave of extreme heat.
Leaving little chance to the grapes of the young vines and early ripening terroirs.
Only old vines, and not even all, of low yield, on protected terroirs and late ripening, found resilience in getting their berries to optimal ripeness.
The catastrophe was avoided. However, the qualities were very heterogeneous, even amongst the most experienced cellars….
Once again, our meticulous work of selection will have found all its meaning this year!
There is a familiarity in the southern whites with a little more ostentatious density.
The quality of the reds are also varied from one appellation to the next and within the same appellation. A vintage that reminds us of the 2016 for the more successful wines.
And a “special” mention for the North of the North!
Terroir
La Côte sur Hongrie, la Beylesse
Type of soil
Clay-limestone soils.
Ageing
Fermenté et élevé 12 mois en fûts neufs et d’un vin Allier - Tronçais - Jupille
Varietals
Marsanne : 75%
Roussanne : 25%
Specifications
Alcohol content : 13,5% % vol.
Bottling : Without fining and light filtration.
Age of vines : Marsanne: 50 to 100 years, Roussanne: over 40 years. years old

Advice

Serving
12°C
Decant one hour before tasting.