Domaine de Gouye Gabouillon Syrah 2022

Domaine de Gouye Gabouillon Syrah 2022

The ‘Confidential Wine Culture’ of St-Joseph has long clutched Domaine de Gouye tight to its chest.  The Gouye family have most of their vines in the lieux-dit of Gouye, high up on the hills over St-Jean de Muzols. Philippe has 3 hectares here mostly planted between 1955 and 1975. Due to its high altitude, the wines manage to retain freshness even in warm years.

It is a phenomenal terroir, worked with absolute conviction in the old methods by Philippe Desbos. As well as Trollat, he had much in common with Elizabeth Fogier, a female vigneron of St-Jean de Muzols who defended the old style in the 1980s and 1990s, living an unpretentious and steady farmers existence like Philippe and his family do now. Hens cluck at your feet, a horse to plough. Not much changes here.

REGION: FRANCE • Rhône Valley • Saint-Jean de Muzols

APPELLATION: Vin de France

BLEND: 100% Syrah

VINEYARDS: Estate vines sit at 1,080 feet above sea level, on a gentle slope that faces north, just a mile away from the family’s Saint-Joseph vineyards and cellar. (The hamlet near the vineyards is called “Gabouillon.”) Soils are similar to Saint-Joseph, mostly decomposed granite.

AGE OF VINES: 40 to 50 years, on average

WINEMAKING: Hand-harvested. Full-cluster fruit is crushed by foot and fermented on indigenous yeasts in upright oak fermenters in the family’s naturally cold cellar, dug into the granite hillside. Aged in tank and in older, neutral French oak barrels for seven months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.

TASTING IMPRESSIONS: Aromas of summer bramble fruit, light white pepper, warm earth. Balanced, tangy, juicy; flavors of red and black raspberry, baking spices.

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS: Grilled meats; roasted chicken; lamb sausages with herbs