Cairanne - Haut Coustias 2020

Frédéric and François Alary, who have been at the helm of the Oratoire Saint-Martin estate since 1984, represent the tenth generation at the head of this vineyard! Most of the estate is located in the north-east of the commune of Cairanne, at an altitude of 200 metres on steep hills in an area commonly known as "the mountain". These are the Douyes and Saint-Martin districts. In the vineyards, the work is very meticulous, organic and biodynamic (certified), with low yields (some of the vines are more than a hundred years old) and the harvests are done at perfect maturity. The wines are matured in concrete vats, in demi-muids or in tuns. This estate is clearly the best representative of the Cairanne appellation (with Domaine Richaud), an absolute reference! The slopes are sometimes so steep that the use of caterpillar tractors is often indispensable. It is a very stony terroir of yellow clay on the surface and blue clay in depth with a very high percentage of active limestone. The whites are mainly composed of marsanne, roussanne, clairette and grenache blanc.