Les Courtilles Côtes du Rhône 2024 (France)

Description

Cherry, Oak, Spice

Aromas of dark berried fruit, savoury undergrowth, a hint of oak and nuanced spice. Palate of supple red berry and black cherry flavour balanced by judicious acidity and nicely textured tannins complexed by earthy notes.

Les Courtilles (a series of small courtyards) is named atier the village winery founded in 1997 by Bernard Schurr. Here Bernard had the ambition of cratiing small batches of wines with individual character and charm. Les Courtilles Côtes du Rhône is sourced from 35-year-old vines on the right bank of the Rhône between Orange and Avignon.

Despite weather conditions which required enormous work in the vineyard, the 2024 vintage is low in volume but very promising across all the vineyards of the Rhône Valley, with fruit, tension and balance.

A core blend of primarily Grenache was hand-harvested and destemmed before a long cold soak and fermentation in small concrete vats, pumped over twice daily. Transferred to a stainless-steel tank to finish fermentation before blending with a component (20%) of barrel-matured Côtes du Rhône Villages fruit from the Plan de Dieu, adding depth, complexity and structure to the wine whilst also increasing cellaring potential.