Appellation: Vin de France.
Cuvée: Le Pacha.
Colour: Red.
Grapes: Carignan.
About: this Cuvée and Gibraltar were born in 2014 out of the old Ciel Liquide Cuvée that is no more since 2012. It’s a great decision born of Jean-Philippe’s long, careful work in the vines to grow beautiful fruit. The Cuvée name is inspired by a 1968 French police flick starring Jean Gabin which had for its soundtrack Serge Gainsbourg’s song “Requiem pour un Con”. The picture on the bottle, however, is Jean-Philippe’s uncle, called Pacha. Pacha is only bottled in magnum.
Vines
Location: near Calce.
Size ha: 1.
Age: vines planted between 1900 and 1920.
Soils: mostly limestone, some clay-limestone, a little schist.
Exposition: various.
Altitude: 250m.
Training: gobelet.
Farming: organic and biodynamic, mostly by hand, sometimes with a donkey.
Average yield hl/ha: 15.
Climate: Mediterranean.
Winemaking
Made by whole bunch infusion in one 27hl concrete tank, with 15 days on the skins. Then it’s pressed and moved to old 300 litre barrels to finish the fermentation which can take up to one month. There’s no addition of sulfites or any other additives. The wine was aged for 11 months and kept in bottle for 6 months before release. At bottling there’s a very light filtration and adjustment of sulfites.
Vintage Notes 2016
Yield hl/ha: .
Harvested: .
Bottles produced: 1,600 magnums.
Date bottled: 2017-09.
Alcohol %: 12.64.
SO2 Total: <10.
Tasting: .
Vintage Notes 2017
Yield hl/ha: .
Harvested: .
Bottles produced: 1,200 magnums.
Date bottled: 2018-09.
Alcohol %: .
SO2 Total: .
Tasting: earthy, dark berry, floral fruit, with astringent tannins, gentle acidity, very pure, complex, silky, great harmony and balance.
Vintage Notes 2018
Yield hl/ha: .
Harvested: September 7.
Bottles produced: .
Date bottled: .
Alcohol %: .
SO2 Total: .
Tasting: from tank, full of cherry fruit with ginger spice, fat, yet rounded, fresh, rich.