article by Kristen Bieler as shown in Wine Spectator Magazine
Across the Rhône Valley Winemakers Adapt To Rising Temperatures In Their Pursuit of Fresh, Vibrant Wines
“Ventoux is one of the coolest regions in the entire Southern Rhône,” says Nicole Rolet, who began making wine at her Chêne Bleu estate in 2006 after rehabilitating its abandoned old-vine vineyards. “We average 20% cooler temperatures than our neighboring appellations—a totally distinct microclimate.” Planted on the slopes of Mount Ventoux—the Southern Rhône’s highest mountain, more famous for the punishing ascent in the Tour de France than for wine—the vineyards of Ventoux climb to more than 1,600 feet and can be covered in snow during the winter months. “This was long considered the northern limit of where Grenache could ripen,” says Rolet, who harvests more than four weeks later than domaines on the valley floor. Her wines can best be understood as having one foot in the Northern Rhône, with the Syrah-based Héloïse accompanying the Grenache-based Abélard among her top cuvées, both of which she holds back for six years before releasing to the market. When her husband, Xavier, purchased the 340-acre estate in the 1990s, including 74 acres of vines, the property cost the same as 5 acres in Châteauneuf. Today, the land in Gigondas, which Rolet’s estate stretches into, is roughly 10 times more expensive than Ventoux. This may soon change. “We get full ripeness and mature tannins, yet have good acidity and balance that producers elsewhere in the Southern Rhône really struggle to achieve,” Rolet says. “This is why more of the bigger names are looking here now.”
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