Domaine de la Chouette is a small family vineyard with 3ha of vines on a hilltop at 70m
above sea level (one of the southern points of the Graves region) on the banks
of the river Ciron in the South Gironde.
This wine is made from our best parcels of grapes, 1/3 Cabernet Franc,
1/3 Merlot and 1/3 Cabernet Sauvignon.
This first edition of Rendez-Vous will
seduce your gaze with its clarity and its brilliance. Deep warm glints hint at the pleasure that
awaits; a welcome encounter.
Soon after, you will sense the full
and intense aromas, fine and complex with notes of eau de vie, spiciness, fresh
mushrooms and leather each taking their turn, an inspiring bouquet.
On the palate, this wine is sensual
and round, with soft tannins bringing velvety length.
This Rendez-Vous is not a dream but a
lingering moment to share.
« Rendezvous » with our best terroir
The Merlot comes from parcels with clay on top of a limestone subsoil
and the Cabernets Franc and Sauvignon are grown in gravely sand.
The vines are well-placed for maximum sunshine along the top of the hillside
facing South and North. The ground is
worked mechanically.
« Rendezvous » with our best vines
We have selected 3 grape varieties from our best parcels.
Merlot: 30 year-old vines from the parcels « La Marie-Anne »
and « La Kate ». Facing South
and North, the grapes were picked at optimal ripeness in 2010 giving a good
concentration of polyphenols and fruit.
Cabernet Franc: from the highest parcel in our vineyard, « La
Jacqueline », the vines are 50 years old.
The tanins from these grapes have an incredible finesse and a spicy
character.
Cabernet Sauvignon: from the south-facing parcel «La Pierrot ». Thanks to the dry sunny conditions in 2010 the
tannins and aromatic qualities of these grapes are at their concentrated best.
Pruning: Guyot simple with 8 buds per vine.
The harvest and the maintenance of the vines is all 100% done by hand. « Rendezvous » with our best wines
The 2010 harvest began early in September and was finished by
mid-month. The climatic conditions were
ideal and we were able to bring in healthy perfectly-ripe grapes.
The varieties were vinified separately in small stainless steel vats at
low temperatures (20 to 25° Celsius).
The maceration occurred gently resulting in an infusion rather than an
extraction. The merlots spent 3 weeks in
vat and the cabernets 4 weeks.
After careful selection the blended wine spent 36 months in aged oak
barrels before being bottled.
The final assemblage for Rendez-Vous is 1/3 Merlot, 1/3 Cabernet
Franc and 1/3 Cabernet Sauvignon.
Our wines are neither fined nor filtered and are made with minimal
quantities of sulphur dioxide.
« Rendezvous »
with our best presentation
Each of the 4200 bottles of Rendez-Vous is individually numbered and presented in a wooden case.
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