Vidal Fleury Cote-Rotie La Chatillonne 2017
Type: Red
Country: France
Region: Rhone Valley
Grape Variety: Syrah, Viognier
Climate: Continental climate with hot summers, cool autumns and winters
Terroir: La Chatillone is a small parcel on the northern edge of the Côte Blonde. Exposure here is to the east creating a cooler microclimate Terraces here are less rocky than the rest of the vineyard with soils made up of gneiss, silica and rich clay
Winemaking: Grapes are hand-harvested and transported to the winery in small crates. Fermentation occurs with indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled tanks with the maceration period lasting approximately 3 weeks with frequent pumping over. The wine is aged on its lees for a total of 4 years in a combination of new and used oak barrels as well as large oak casks. The finished wine is very lightly filtered (cross-flow) and not fined. The wines rest in the bottle for a minimum of 6 months prior to release
Color: Deep red
Nose: Intense cassis, pepper and smoke scents on the nose
Palate: Intense, layered, rich on the palate with blackcurrant, cherry, pepper, nutmeg violet and oak
About the Winery:
Founded in 1781, Vidal-Fleury is the Rhône Valley’s oldest continuing grower/négociant firm. Thomas Jefferson’s visit in 1787 was its first contact with the United States; he called the wines “justly celebrated”.
During the 1890s, Gustave Vidal married a daughter of the Fleury family. Thanks to her dowry, they replanted the vineyard following the phylloxera outbreak. Then, in the 1920s, the House took an interest in other wine-growing regions throughout the Rhône Valley.
In 1984, Ets. Guigal acquired the company. This step was a logical continuation for the Vidal-Fleury and Guigal families, who had always worked together. Indeed, Etienne Guigal (Marcel’s father) was hired as a vine grower and cellar master by Joseph Vidal-Fleury in 1924. When the Vidal-Fleury family decided to sell the House, as none of its heirs felt like taking over the reins, it naturally turned to the Guigal family. As a result, the company remains family-run. Vidal-Fleury is managed in absolute independence with its own winemaking, logistics and commercial team.
In 2006 Vidal-Fleury began investing to modernize its winery facilities, installing state-of-the-art technology; in 2008, it built a new cellar specifically dedicated to maturing the wines. In addition, Vidal-Fleury’s vineyards are overseen with 100% self-sustaining management practices.
Long considered one of the most respected producers in the Rhône Valley, Vidal-Fleury carries on under the watchful management of Head Winemaker Guy Sarton du Jonchay.
