Clos du Joncuas: Old-Fashioned Organic Wines from Gigondas, Vacqueyras and Seguret!

1/21/15 -

Clos du Joncuas, founded in 1920 by Pierre Auguste Chastan, has always farmed with natural methods and has been officially organic since 1980. Currently run by sisters Dany and Carole Chastan, the estate's Gigondas vines are on slopes below the Dentelles de Montmirail on soils of clay with dolomite and gypsum over the limestone of the Dentelles and average 40 to 90 years old. Vinifications here are entirely old-school; whole-clusters fermented with wild yeasts in cement and aged in old barrels. The wines tend to be a bit tannic when young but begin to drink well after 3 to 4 years and show beautifully at 8 to 15 years with the wonderful complexity typical of real, un-spoofilated, old-fashioned Gigondas. Especially brilliant is the 2005 "Esprit de Grenache" from 60 year-old massale selection vines. Clos du Joncuas also has excellent parcels in neighboring Vacqueyras and Seguret. The Vacqueyras also needs three to five years of aging while the Seguret drinks well young in a more forward but still quite traditional, complex style. Rounding out their production is an outstanding Gigondas Rosé, certainly one of the finest in the Southern Rhone, and a superb Seguret Blanc made from 50% Clairette, with Roussanne and Marsanne.

Although unknown in the US - the wines of Clos du Joncuas are not made in a style favored by most American wine writers - these are outstanding wines of terroir that benefit from three generations of natural farming and vinifications with minimal intervention. We urge you to try them!