Moving from Cairanne through Rasteau and Roaix along the curling arc of villages en route towards Gigondas, our next stop is Séguret on the other side of the valley. Nestling at the foot of the Dentelles de Montmirail, the lacey-edged rocky outcrop which dominates the skyline on this side of the valley, Séguret rightly earns its official classification as one of “the most beautiful villages in France” (along with cheese, a Normandy butter and ‘le poulet de Bresse’, even the pretty villages of France are classified too!).

In wine terms, Séguret is important because it is one of the named villages within the Côtes du Rhône Villages AOP, but for us it has special significance as the site of the ‘Les Turcs’ vineyard. High in the rugged mountainous terroir behind the village itself, the vines in this vineyard are genuinely old, a minimum of 50 years of age, some even older. The fruit from these vines impart a purity of flavour and a surprising tenderness to our Boutinot Rhône ‘Les Coteaux Schisteux’.

This week we travel west back down the slopes of La Montée de Ventabren to Saint Andéol and our oldest Grenache Noir vineyard. Here, protected by the wood that borders the plot, can be found vines dating back to 1946.

The vineyard holds two secrets; an old grotto hidden in the adjoining wood where long ago villagers fashioned charcoal in a ‘charbonnière; ‘and secondly a new planting of Carignan Noir! We at Boutinot Rhône are determined to retain this old southern French variety in the vineyards of Cairanne. Carignan Noir has been misunderstood and unfairly maligned: when produced from low yields its grapes have the potential to produce wine of incredible structure and acidity, a perfect counterfoil to rich, heady Grenache Noir.

Following on from last week’s post about Boutinot’s Syrah vineyards in Cairanne, we now move up to the top of La Montée de Ventabren to our two plots of old bush vine Grenache Noir, planted just under 50 years ago in 1968.