Domaine Les 4 Vents Les Pitchounettes Crozes Hermitage 2021

Domaine Les 4 Vents Les Pitchounettes Crozes Hermitage

The Pitchounettes Rouge is characterised by ripe black fruits - blackberry, blackcurrant and black plum, complimented with well integrated oak flavours (cedar, vanilla and tobacco) and added complexity from smoky pepper aromas typical of the Syrah grape. A very good value, organic, low sulphur and fully bodied Crozes-Hermitage.

The cuvée “Pitchounettes” is produced from relatively young vines near the village of Mercurol. The soil is a sandy-silty alluvial clay with a lot of surface river stones/pebbles. The yields are very low, typically around 30hl/ha and the harvesting is done by hand.

The grapes are de-stemmed and then the juice is left to macerate with the skins for three weeks but with very little movement either in the form of pumping over or pushing down the cap.

The wine is then allowed to mature and settle for 6 to 8 months in stainless steel tanks and 5 year old demi-muids (600L). The wine is lightly filtered before bottling.

Producer 

Domaine les 4 Vents, formerly Le Domaine de Lucie is the domaine of Lucie Fourel and her sister, Nancy Cellier. Lucie is a young “vigneronne”, who in 2006 took over 3.5 hectares in Crozes-Hermitage from her parents with the idea of making wines from her family’s vineyards under her own label. In 2013, her sister Nancy, decided to join the family business and the domain name was changed to Domaine les 4 Vents which was the name of the Auberge that Lucie and Nancy’s great grandparents owned next door to where the family house and winery is today.

In 2015, Lucie and Nancy inherited the remaining 6.5 hectares from their parents, bringing the domain to its current size of 10 hectares. Before returning to the family estate, Lucie spent a few years as an apprentice with different wineries in the Rhone Valley during which time she developed her philosophy and practices for organic and bio-dynamic farming as well as natural vinification. Domaine Les 4 Vents has both organic and bio-dynamic certifications.

Lucie does not use any sulfur during the winemaking process and only just before bottling does she add a minimal dose. The wines are fermented using only indigenous yeasts.

Domaine Les 4 Vents Les Pitchounettes Crozes Hermitage - Hay Wines