Clos Des Lumières Les Vignes de Papy Merlot
WHY WE LOVE IT
- Clos Des Lumières uses sustainable agriculture principles. They limit the amount of fertilizers are used and use only enough to maintain a balance in the soil or when required by the vines.
- Harvesting is done during the night to limit oxidation.
Varietal Composition: 100% Merlot
Elaboration: The vineyard is made up of chalky sand-clay soil, which dates from the Miocene and Pliocene period (- 3 to -18 million years). This soil has a lot of complexity and because of erosion, the soil particles have become very fine and is small enough to be picked up by the roots. This region also benefits from the largest number of sunshine hours of France, which is important for the photo synthesis, sugar and the maturing process. The northern wind, Mistral, blows up to 100 days a year and keeps the vines clean and healthy.
The vines are planted with a density of 4000 per hectare. This is based on soil and leaf analysis. The yield is kept at a low level in order to have a high quality of grape. This is done by hedging, leaf-thinning and green harvesting. The grapes are destemmed and crushed, followed by a cold pre-fermentation maceration to enhance fruit aromas in the wine. The vinification is done at low temperature with regular pumping over and cap-punching.
Tasting Notes: Les Vignes de Papy is very deep red, almost black color. It has a very intense nose dominated by black fruit. The palate again reveals these black fruit aromas, but is followed by spices such as laurel and sage. The tannins are present but well built in. This wine has a lot of length and is to be considered in the top end of the merlot wines.
PRESS
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PRODUCER BACKGROUND
Domaine le Clos des Lumières is a 50-hectare, family farm founded in 1946 by the grandfather of the domaine’s current vigneron, Gerald Serrano. The ambitious and talented Gerald Serrano is solely responsible for the recent “coming out” of this estate – Prior to taking things over in 2003 Gerald’s father was selling all grapes on the estate to the local cooperative.
Having grown up on the property, Gerald is intimately familiar with the terroir here. The oldest vines now edge 60 years in age and this land really seems to “pack the character in.”. We’ve sold massive amounts of Rhone wine over the last forty years, and these are the most well-received Cotes du Rhone values we’ve carried in our history.