Domaine de Fondrèche Rouge 2024, Ventoux AOC, Rhône, Organic

Domaine de Fondrèche Rouge is the estate red from Sébastien Vincenti’s domaine on the Fondrèche plateau, at the foot of Mont Ventoux in the southern Rhône. It is a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre from vines averaging around 40 years old, grown on very stony, chalky soils over sandy clay formed from ancient alluvium, where the mountain’s cooling influence keeps the fruit fresh. The grapes are de-stemmed and fermented in concrete tanks with 21 to 28 days on the skins and only a few gentle punch-downs, for a slow, delicate extraction. The Grenache is then aged in large oak foudres, while the Syrah and Mourvèdre go into barrels and concrete eggs, and the wine is bottled on a ‘fruit day’ of the lunar calendar.

In the glass it is a deep, vivid red. The nose shows red fruit, raspberry and blueberry, with violets and a touch of woody spice. The palate is medium-bodied, round and silky, with concentrated plum and black cherry fruit, hints of black olive and liquorice, and fine tannins that carry through to a long finish.

Serve at around 16–18°C. It is excellent with grilled or roast lamb, Provençal beef daube, sausages, duck, mushroom dishes and hard cheeses. Enjoy it over the next four to five years.

Domaine de Fondrèche lies on the Fondrèche plateau at the foot of Mont Ventoux, in the southern Rhône, with vineyards spread across the villages of Mazan, Mormoiron and Saint-Pierre-de-Vassols. The estate was bought in 1991 by Nanou Barthélémy, and her son Sébastien Vincenti joined her in 1993, switching from business studies to oenology and building the domaine’s own cellar by 1997, with early guidance from André Brunel of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Today the estate covers around 38 hectares. Sébastien farms without herbicides, sows cover crops to improve soil structure and biodiversity, and times vineyard work by the lunar calendar. In the cellar he favours gentle extraction, using large oak casks and concrete eggs for the reds rather than small barrels, so that the wines express their sites.