Marcel Richaud Cotes-du-Rhone Primeur 2020

Country: France

Region: Rhône

Type: Red Wine

Grape: Grenache/Syrah/Carignan/Mourvedre

Marie and Marcel Richaud run Domaine Marcel Richaud, with Marcel as winemaker and Marie as manager. Marcel tends 40 hectares of organic vines, his own or his neighbors’. The estate is made up of plots inherited from his parents and of rented parcels. There are less Grenache vines than on most estates of the area, just 25% of the varietals grown, and the same amount of Syrah and Mourvèdre. The remainder of the estate is 10% Cinsault and 15% various local varietals. This mix is one of the reasons why Richaud’s wines have such great balance and finesse. Mourvèdre especially plays an important role in toning down the alcohol degree that Grenache easily reaches in a warm year: it requires more sun and later picking, and in Cairanne it is at the northern edge of its growing region

Made in the style of a Beaujolais Nouveau, this shows all the properties of a classic Rhône wine--berries, lavender, tannins, but fresher and more playful. Carbonic maceration, native yeasts, no filtering and fining, and nothing added other than a small sulfur addition. Made and aged in concrete vats.