first vine: wine imports + sales : Domaine Chaume-Arnaud La Cadène 2000 Rouge

Domaine Chaume-Arnaud La Cadène 2000 Rouge

Price: $27.00

NEW!
description
Valérie Chaume-Arnaud started producing and bottling her wine with one very old press and six tanks in 1996. Her parents had run the vineyard until then, but sold their grapes to the local cooperative wineries in Vinsobres and St. Maurice sur Eygues. She expanded the business in 1999, along with the help of her husband, Phillipe. Together, they produce a range of excellent wines from everyday to more elegant, from wines Valérie calls “tres françaises” to some of the finest wines in the region using no added yeast and manual harvesting. Her reputation for quality production is so esteemed that she was able to secure a special designation from the AOC authorities when Vinsobres was elevated to cru status in 2005, and was the only producer in Vinsobres to be honored in that way. Although her wines have been produced with 100% organic grapes since she started the business, she has not yet decided to apply for organic certification.

La Cadène 2000 Rouge is a special blend of 50% Grenache and 50% Syrah, which Valérie created because of an exceptional crop of Syrah (from vines over 40 years old, and the grenache vines are at least 55 years old. She made it again in 2005, and we'll be buying it next year). The Syrah gives the wine additional fruit and spice, and because Syrah has more tannin in the skin, the wine has greater staying power. It's elegant, bold, smooth, and has more subtle fruit flavors than other wines with this much Syrah -- and got that way without aging in oak. It's a splurge, but you won't find a better Southern Rhône red outside of Vacqueras, Gigondas, or Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

14% alcohol by volume

producer / region: Domaine Chaume-Arnaud

type: Rhône Red Wine

grapes:
50% Grenache, 50% Syrah

category:
reds to impress

food pairing suggestions:
Red meats, mushrooms, truffles, wild game, cheeses, grilled tuna

drink when? Drink now or hold up to 3 years