Since 1980, Domaine de Beaurenard, property of the Coulon family, has also been cultivating a vineyard on stepped hillsides in the Rasteau appellation. On these sharp terroirs surrounded by vast swathes of woodland and garrigue, biodynamic farming reveals its full expression.
The vintageThe 2022 vintage is very much in line with the superb, luminous vintages that we experienced in 2017 and 2019. The abundant rain that fell in the autumn of 2021, replenishing the groundwater reserves, was an essential element of its success.
The winter was quite dry, and a strong Mistral wind in the first days of April prevented new episodes of frost. It set the rhythm for what turned out to be a dry and relatively mild winter, with less than 50mm of rainfall between March and May.
The summer was characterized by extreme drought, with temperatures that were certainly high, but not excessive, notably thanks to the cool nights. Thanks to their deep rooting systems, structured soils, and cover crops that limited the amount of evapotranspiration from the soil, the vines were able to continue their growing cycle without incident to produce grapes at perfect maturity.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape was also touched by three heavy hailstorms, on June 5 and 24 and again on August 14, that swept across certain sectors of the appellation causing limited damage to the west-facing parts of some of our parcels.
The damage caused by the brutal storm of August 14, particularly worrying given the proximity to the harvest, was fortunately restricted to certain areas, and immediately attenuated by the drying effect of the Mistral which began blowing following day. This kept the grapes healthy, warding off the development of rot and starting the healing process for the wood, essential for next year’s vintage.
With hindsight we can see that the way we manage our vineyards - with plant infusions, high density planting, choice of orientation of the rows, no trimming, and use of cover crops, etc., - was once again invaluable in attaining optimum ripeness and the purest expression of our terroirs.
Harvesting took place in good conditions between August 26 and October 6.
Well orientated slopes and terraces offer ideal sunshine exposure. The vines flourish in a stony limestone clay soil and find their full expression thanks to certified organic and biodynamic agriculture.
In the vineyardThe grapes are hand-picked and sorted in the vineyard.
WinemakingCo-fermentation, vatting from 18 to 26 days for soft extractions.
AgeingMatured for 12 months in vats, and oak foudres.
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