Vidal Fleury Hermitage Rouge 2020
Type: Red
Country: France
Region: Rhone Valley
Grape Variety: 100% Syrah
Climate: Continental climate with hot summers, cool autumns and winters
Terroir: From the western slopes of the Hermitage appellation. Soils vary with granite gravel, mica schist, gneiss and clay. Vineyards are steep with elevations between 300-500 meters with an ideal southern exposure
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 12 months prior to release
Color: Deep dark red
Nose: Aromas of blackcurrant, plum, violet, and pepper with a vegetal note
Palate: A supple, fresh and mineral palate with dominant notes of black fruits
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.
