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"Officially signed and sealed at the end of July 2009, the Saint-Joseph Domaine Florentin has been bought by Jean-Louis Chave . . . . The transfer comprises the fabled 4 hectares of Le Clos, 1 hectare of vines near its boundary stream on the Coteau La Carrière, a hectare on the hillside sub-site of La Tête de l'Aigle on Les Côtes at Mauves, and two to three unplanted hectares on the Mauves hillside . . . . Jean-Louis Chave stated: 'it is a place that has always made me dream - it has been there since the sixteenth century, and is the one property like that at Mauves and in the region. There is just the one owner, the vines are on granite, and it is not there by chance - it is south-facing, keeps the sun very late in the day, and has its own little garden. The objective is to make a wine of singularity, individuality, one that has its own origins. It was our good fortune that it was never on the market.' The Clos was for many years called Clos de l'Arbalestrier, until a Swiss wine merchant challenged the use of its name in 2001. The estate was bought by Dr. Emile Florentin in 1956, and his children had juggled working it alongside their own activities such as the practice of homeopathy. The vineyard's Syrah averages around 50 years, while the 1 hectare of Roussanne and Marsanne averages towards 30 years old. Practices here included the use of a horse to work the vineyard, with minimal spraying and intervention - all encouraging for Jean-Louis Chave. In the cellar, the style was to leave the wines a very long time in old oak . . . . 'I will make a separate Saint-Joseph with this under the name Domaine Jean-Louis Chave, just as I will with the vineyard I planted at Lemps on the granite hill there," says Jean-Louis. "I expect a wine of finesse, one that is very, very fine.'" John Livingstone-Learmonth, www.DrinkRhône.com |