Southern Rhône, France
Domaine la Monardière
Domaine la Monardière is in the Southern Rhone cru of Vacqueyras in sight of the Dentelles de Montmirail mountain range. The estate was established by Martine and Christian Vache in 1987, It is a family-run winery now overseen by their son, Damien. Damien farms the estate’s 22 hectares organically and runs the winemaking programme.
All the grapes used in their range of wines is estate grown. As is typical in this appellation, black varieties include Grenache Noir, Syrah, Mourvèdre, while white varieties include Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Clairette and Marsanne. Treatments in the vineyard are limited to miniscule amounts of copper and sulphur (permitted in organic viticulture) and fungal disease is naturally minimized because of the Mistral, the dry wind which is an important climatic feature in much of southern France.
Galejade
White wines are quite uncommon in Vacqueyras where most of the production (over 90%) is red. Galejade is roughly translated as a ‘tall tale’ in Provençal. It is a blend of Roussanne (50%), Grenache Blanc (25%) and Clairette (25%). The vineyards are on sandy loam soils and yields are relatively low for the appellation at 25 hl/ha.
The three varieties are hand harvested at the same time, pressed together and cold settled for clarifying the must before fermentation with indigenous yeast in 600 litre oak foudres. The wine is then aged for 11 months without stirring or racking before bottling.
