Rhone Valley
Yves Cheron, Southern Rhône Valley
Burgundian Yves Cheron graduated from the Lycée Viticole in Beaune in 1983 and headed south the following year to assume control of the family’s new domaine in the Southern Rhône. His father, Denis Cheron, saw the untapped potential in some of the region’s lesser-known appellations back in the early 1960s and left Burgundy to set up shop in this sun-baked sub-region of Provence. Denis purchased a production facility in Vacqueyras and began vinifying wines for several area growers. It wasn’t long before he had earned the trust and friendship of his client-vignerons. In 1982, one of them, the heirless owner of Grand Montmirail in Gigondas, decided to retire and gave Denis right of first refusal to buy his domaine in the appellation’s southeast sector.
Since taking over for his father, Yves has expanded the family’s vineyard holdings into neighboring Beaumes de Venise and Vacqueyras and now produces an impressive line of pure, elegantly-structured, Grenache-based reds without the rustic characteristics so common in wines from this region. All of the domaine’s vines are on gently-sloping hillsides at the foot of the Dentelles de Montmirail mountain range. Yves has also established long-term grape contracts with like-minded growers in Sarrians, Seguret and Violes for another 60 acres, which he uses for his Côtes du Rhône. Yves monitors each parcel and decides when to harvest. He then vinifies this excellent value red in the same manner as his Gigondas and Vacqueyras.
Domaine Facts
| Vines: |
116 acres total: 89 in Gigondas, 17 in Vacqueyras, and 10 acres in Beaumes de Venise divided equally between red varieties and Muscat de Beaumes de Venise. All vines sustainably farmed (lutte raisonnée) |
| Wines: |
Gigondas Grand Montmirail: 60% Grenache, 30% Syrah and 10% Mourvèdre Vacqueyras Grand Montmirail: 60% Grenache, 40% Syrah Beaumes de Venise Grand Montmirail: 65% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 10% Cinsault Muscat de Beaumes de Venise Grand Montmirail: 100% Muscat Côtes du Rhône Les Dentelles: 70% Grenache, 30% Syrah |
| 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 with strict selection in both vineyard and on sorting table before crush |
| Yields: | Average 33 hectoliters/hectare for all domaine wines |
| Vinification & Elevage: |
Total destemming. All fermentation takes place in temp-controlled stainless steel tanks. A Burgundian pneumatic system of daily pigéage is employed for the normal two-week cuvaison. Wines are then moved by gravity to cement tanks for ageing, though élevage for a portion of the Syrah takes place in a combination of new and one-year-old barrels. Wines are not fined and only bottom portion of each tank undergoes light filtration. |
| Annual Production: | 300,000 bottles / 25,000 cases |