Some images from March to July, through bud break and flowering to the first signs of fruit set.

After a long, dry summer Harvest 2016 is underway here at Domaine Boutinot, Cairanne. It’s a busy time so here are just a few pictures from the past few days……

In Cairanne berries on our Syrah vines are ripening and entering the véraison stage, when the grapes’ skins turn from green to purple and the texture changes from hard to soft as the berries ripen. As we tend to the vines during this crucial stage we thought we’d take a moment to reflect on what’s happened so far in the vineyard during the 2014 vintage.

Ever since 2009 when our winemaker Eric Monnin first stood in Boutinot Rhône’s highest plots – La Pauline and Les Six Terrasses – he knew that there was a chance to make truly magical wine. That dream is now a reality with the release of ‘Les Six’, Cairanne, Côtes du Rhône Villages 2011 – a unique blend of six varieties rather than the commonplace two (Grenache Noir and Syrah). This is the story of ‘Les Six’…

October’s here, the harvest is still in full swing and we’re still standing! After a cold night the weather today is again warm and sunny and our team of pickers went high up the slopes of La Montée du Ventabren to harvest old vine Grenache. Back at La Ruche (Cairanne) our cellar is gradually filling up and grapes are slowly turning into wine in our open top tronconiques (wooden fermentation vessels). Today the fermentation in tronconique 10, filled with incredible 53 year old Grenache Noir, came to its natural end and the tank has been racked, filling the cellar with enticing cherry and spice aromas.

The Boutinot Rhône harvest 2012 begins….at last! So far the weather has been perfect (sunny clear days with a good mistral blowing) and now it’s full steam ahead in the vineyard and the cellar. Days are busy and long but satisfying….no time for a long post so here are some images from the past week. A full 2012 vintage report will follow soon.

Like Séguret, Sablet is classed as a named Côtes du Rhône Villages. Its lush vineyards rise gently up the lower slopes of the Dentelles de Montmirail producing wines of great silkiness, for which Sablet is justly beginning to become more renowned. Notable for its medieval stone fortification, and ruelles (narrow covered alleys) its citadel of cobbled streets which spiral around the church of St Nazaire provided the inspiration for the name of our Sablet – ‘La Citadelle’.

Exciting times in the vineyard! ‘Véraison’ or grape ripening has now started which allows us to judge when the grapes are likely to be ready to harvest. The predicted date of harvest is especially important because we harvest by hand and must make sure enough teams trained pickers are at the ready. This week we follow activity in our Cairanne La Ruche vineyard as the ‘véraison’ of Syrah is starting to take place.

Still on our short diversion between Séguret and Sablet we wanted to share some great pictures taken by the Timmons, the enterprising family behind The Wine Teacher, during a recent fact finding visit to the Boutinot Rhône Cairanne estate….