Rhone Valley
Domaine du Cayron, Gigondas
Established in 1840, Domaine du Cayron is situated at the entrance of the village of Gigondas. For the past four generations, the property has been owned and managed by the Faraud family. Michel Faraud has been the guiding hand at Cayron for the past three decades, but recently handed over the reins to the fifth generation; his three daughters. Delphine manages commercial and administrative affairs while Cendrine and Roseline have assumed all winemaking duties after completing their studies at La Viti-Oenology in nearby Orange.
Well situated on the mid-slope of Gigondas, the domaine’s forty acres of vines average forty-years of age and include a precious plot of seventy-year-old gnarled Grenache. The Faraud girls focus all of their energy and attention in the vineyard and cellar on just one wine. Tiny yields, harvesting by hand with strict selection, and minimal intervention in the cellar (no fining or filtering) result in one of the purest expressions of the appellation year after year. In their quest to be the best, the Farauds also recently retained the consulting services of renowned Châteauneuf-du-Pape enologist Philippe Cambie to help take the domaine to an even higher level of quality.
The tasting panel for La Revue du Vin de France sums up Cayron best in their 2007 classification of the country’s best wines (Le Classement des Meilleurs Vins de France): “One finds here with joy the prototype of vigorous and honest Gigondas.”
Domaine Facts
| Vines: | 40 acres planted to 70% Grenache, 15% Cinsault, 14% Syrah and 1% Mourvèdre Average age of vines is 40 years-old. |
| Wines: | Gigondas (rouge) - Only wine produced |
| Soil: | Limestone base of the Dentelles de Montmirail mountain range with Cretaceous marl top soil (soft, loose earth consisting of calcium carbonate and clay) |
| Harvest: | Manual harvest using small bins |
| Yields: | Minuscule 28 hectoliters/hectare average |
| Vinification & Elevage: |
Traditional hydraulic press – Fermented and aged up to ten months in large oak foudres. Wine is not fined or filtered. |
| Annual Production: | 60,000 bottles/5000 cases |