The grapes are harvested manually and are never destemmed. There is a three week cuvaison. A small amount of press juice is added back to the cuvee. Malolactic fermentation takes place in cuve and, after the malolactic fermentation is complete, the wine is racked into large oak “foudres” where it stays for approximately 18 months. The wine is racked no more than three times before it is bottled – unfined and unfiltered – 30 to 36 months after harvest. New oak is not used at this domaine. The resulting wine is sturdy, braced with sweet, dusty tannins, and is intensely aromatic with notes of crushed white pepper, oriental spices and game.

The Domaine du Gour de Chaulé, situated in the heart of the village of Gigondas, was founded in 1900 by Eugene Bonfils, the great-grandfather of the current proprietor, Stephanie Fumoso. All the wine produced at the estate was sold in bulk to negociants until 1970 when Madame Rolande Beaumet, Eugene’s daughter and the grandmother of Stéphanie, began to bottle a small percentage of the estate’s wine for sale to private clients. Madame Beaumet’s daughter, Aline Bonfils, ascended to the head of the domaine in the early 1980s and it was under the direction of Aline that the tradition of estate bottling expanded significantly. We arrived at her doorstep virtually at that same moment and, from that day, we became the exclusive representative in the USA of the Domaine du Gour de Chaulé, purchasing increasingly more important quantities of this classic version of Gigondas.

The domaine comprises 15 hectares, 10 of which are within Gigondas with the remaining 5 hectares situated in the surrounding communes of Vacqueyras and Violes. Aline Bonfils believes strongly in Grenache as the heart and soul of Gigondas and she has transmitted this philosophy to her daughter, Stéphanie. Thus, 85% of the vineyards are planted to Grenache, with approximately 10% dedicated to Syrah and Mourvedre and the balance planted to Cinsault. Further, this family has always conducted their affairs with the understanding that minimal intervention in the vineyards and in the cave is essential to preserving the essential character of the wines of this important appellation. Note, particularly, that the red wines here are produced from grapes that are not destemmed, an approach that we believe is essential to provide the classic character of Gigondas.