2023 Domaine du Séminaire Côtes du Rhône Village 'Valréas'

80% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre. Farmed organically. Vineyards are primarily limestone and sit at 1000’+ elevation. Hand harvested, fully destemmed and fermented with native yeasts. Aged in concrete vats with no oak influence at all. Bottled with minimal sulphur. 14% alcohol.

Aromas of black raspberry, ripe strawberry, and red plum drift into lavender, thyme, bay, and a twist of cracked pepper. The palate is medium-bodied and supple: juicy fruit, a dusting of cocoa and tea leaf, fine powdery tannins, and a bright, lightly saline finish. Rhône comfort—with posture. This Grenache-led blend brings sweet-spiced red/black fruit, violets, and plenty of garrigue over fine, powdery tannins. That combo loves dishes with herbal aromatics, gentle char, and savory elements (olive, anchovy, mushroom) that echo the wine’s peppery, Mediterranean profile.

On 100 hectares (about 250 acres) of land in the hills above the village of Valréas, a beautiful Provençal house, surrounded by olive and truffle oak trees, lavender fields, and thick forest, is the center of the idyllic micro-estate of Domaine du Seminaire. The vineyards comprise 60 hectares (about 150 acres) and are near the northern limit of ripening Grenache, in the colder foothills of the Alps, where they are swept by the strong mistral winds. 

Hervé Pouizin is the fourth generation to farm this land; he and his wife, Mathilde, have preserved the self-sufficient estate mostly as it was a century ago, with one key exception: they converted everything to organic farming. Fermenting their wines in the same huge concrete tanks since 1938, the couple takes an old-school approach to winemaking and uses no oak. They produce high-toned, bright, floral wines, in keeping with their region and elevation, bottled early to preserve the fruit and with minimal sulfur.