Domaine La Soumade Rasteau Villages

REGION: Rhone, France

VARIETIES: Grenache, Syrah, Mouvedre

ALCOHOL: 14.5%

VITICULTURE: Conventional

YEAR: 2021

INFO: The Soumade estate covers 26 hectares, including a new plot of 2.5 hectares of the finest land in Rasteau – pure ‘Argile bleue’ with 60 year old vines.  All the grapes are picked exclusively by hand. Domaine la Soumade's André Roméro is a great winemaker (described as the superstar of Rasteau by wine critic Robert Parker), add the expertise of renowned consultant Stéphane Derenoncourt and some top quality vineyard sites and you have a recipe for success. This Grenache dominated entry level village Rasteau delivers in leaps and bounds. The vines are only treated, natural fertiliser added, when absolutely necessary and the grapes are hand picked and then hand sorted so only the best make it through. The wine matures in concrete for a year and then in a range of oak barrels for six months before being lightly filtered.

The nose is intoxicating with perfumed aromas of sweet red and brambly fruits leading onto a full, rich, silky palate with  a nice spicy kick. There is a lovely freshness to the wine, it is balanced and the length is long.

A rich, silky palate with a nice spicy kick