Domaine Combe Queyzaire 'Aestivalis' 2022 Vin de France - Rhône Valley

Cépages: 50% Mouvèdre - 40% Carignan - 10% Grenache

Production: 650 cases

Tasting Profile: A summer vin de soif to be served chilled. Easy fruit that
unfolds with perfect ripeness and just enough structure. 

Winemaking: A light, quick maceration, spontaneous fermentation in concrete, a short élevage in steel. Handled like a rosé to maximize fruit and minimize tannic structure. 

This is classified as a Vin de France because it doesn't have enough color to qualify for AOC. The name Aestivalis (es-tee-va-lease) is a play on festivals and été, meaning summer, i.e., a wine for summer to be served with a chill. Denis being the brainy enologist that he is, it's also a reference to a species of North American grapes, Vitis Aestivalis.

This is Denis's homage to the Rhône's vins de soif of yesteryear--they did exist, particularly at bars during the lunch break, and they're coming back--based on his late-ripening varieties and cool sites. One plot per varietal, all old vines thus low yields, with ripening taking long and not coming until the end of the harvest, so low sugars and consequently low alcohols. Harvesting very early in the morning to keep the grapes cold, and beginning the fermentation in concrete to make a red but finishing as if the wine were a rosé, that is, imparting a gentle structure to the wine. Racking into steel for aging and bottling at the end of March following the harvest.