Campuget Costieres de Nimes Rouge 2020

Blackcurrant, Blackberry Preserve, Stewed Red Cherry, Black Pepper, Pipe Tobacco

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"Unlike Alsace, the Costières de Nîmes region has seen very few nations fight over it. In fact, one of the last times its boundaries were re-drawn was during the initial Roman invasion. The biggest battle the Costières de Nîmes fought was over its own identity, sandwiched between the Rhone Valley and the Languedoc, its wines were routinely classified as one or the other with little input from the winemakers themselves! After years of neglect, appellation status was granted to the region in 1989, elevating them to a higher playing field. Nowadays, the Costières de Nîmes is an excellent source of great values, old vines, and a unique take on the grapes of southern France they can finally call their own.

Chateau Campuget in its current iteration was founded in 1942 though, like many other producers in the region, vines have been cultivated on the property for centuries. The Dalle family, current owners of the property, focus on sustainable viticulture and have recently achieved the “Haute Valeur Environmentale” designation as of the 2019 vintage. Current owner Franck-Lin Dalle has worked for years to achieve this award, given to wineries that demonstrate a commitment to pesticide-free, sustainable, and natural viticulture.

To make this wine, Franck-Lin sources fruit from vineyard sites planted predominantly to Syrah and Grenache. Similar to the garrigue soils of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, the estate vineyards are well-draining, retain heat, and facilitate ripeness in the vine. At harvest, all the fruit is hand-picked and brought to the chateau for sorting and destemming. Depending on the vintage, the grapes are crushed and spend 2-3 weeks macerating on the skins. Each variety ferments separately in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats. Once fermentation is complete, the varietal wines are then blended together and filtered before bottling. The final blend for the 2018 vintage is 65% Syrah, 30% Grenache, and 5% Mourvedre." - JP Donnelly Davis