Domaine Curtat "Syrah Vieilles Vignes" red 2023

PRESENTATION OF DOMAINE C. CURTAT
+ ALL ITS OTHER CUVÉES IN STOCK

Domaine Curtat "Syrah Vieilles Vignes" red 2023

Technical sheet for this cuvée:

A beautiful story. Christophe Curtat discovered this hectare of vines in a remote corner of the Saint-Joseph appellation, notably thanks to an impressive plot of syrahs over one hundred years old located at the top of the slope. He obtained the lease from an elderly owner who had not "officially" declared his harvest to customs for about ten years. The result: After 8 years without a "harvest declaration," the legislation is very clear: The vine can no longer claim the appellation in which it is geographically located, in this case Saint-Joseph. And yet, what a vine!!!

Regardless of the appellation, Christophe Curtat met the owner and took over this hectare on lease in 2013. He invested heavily and worked tirelessly ;-) on the soils, replaced dead vines and old hybrids that remained in place... but deliberately produced nothing in 2013. 2014 was his first vintage of "Syrah d'Ardèche".

There have been some changes since the 2019 vintage; firstly, the cuvée has changed its name and is now called "Syrah Vieilles Vignes" because it was important for Christophe Curtat to give a name to this cuvée to make the range more homogeneous (all other cuvées have a name). Additionally, the winemaker created a simpler cuvée with the young vines from his domaine ("Les Gros", not in our range at the moment). This has allowed the winemaker to more drastically select the grapes that go into his "Vieilles Vignes" cuvée, whose concentration is now greater, while maintaining the freshness that has made his reputation.

In our opinion, many owners of Saint-Joseph would give anything to cultivate this hectare with superb results, especially after the costly but necessary oak barrel aging of 2-3 wines (for half), and in stainless steel tanks (for the other half) imposed by the constant concern to prioritize quality and refinement over quantity and rusticity, much to the chagrin of the "old guard" of the appellation, whose wines were only good to drink after 4 or 5 years in bottle.

Today, the wines signed by Curtat certainly have a strong aging potential (minimum 5 years), but they are also perfectly enjoyable to taste right after bottling, a welcome modernity for Lyon restaurants that have almost de facto claimed the monopoly of this small cuvée (only 6000 bottles) of "Saint-Joseph not administratively correct" at such an affordable price for this quality... but without the prestigious AOP, simply "IGP Ardèche".