Grapillon d’OR, Vacqueyras Blanc, France 2023

Colour: White
Grape-Varieties: 70% Clairette 20% Roussanne 5% Grenache blanc 5% Viognier
Yield: 35 hl/hectares

Exposure and soil:
The vineyard is essentially situated on the plateau of Vacqueyras. The soil is composed of limestone and clay.

Vinification:
The vinification is traditional. The grapes are harvested by hand, carefully sorted and the grapes are destemmed.

Tasting notes:

« Nice golden color, brillant, limpid and complex, mineral notes, freshness, white fruit notes, peach, pear. Mouth is fleshy, fresh and balanced. A long final, fine and elegant.»

Serving Suggestions:

This wine is perfect as an aperitif, with St Jacques of safran butter, sushis, fish tartare, creamed chicken, goat cheese.

Serve it at the temperature of 8°.

History of the Estate

The Grapillon d’or estate evokes an authentic family story.

The origin of the CHAUVET family dates back to around 1630, the mid-17th century, and the first winemakers of the Chauvet family appeared in the registers in 1703.

Founded in 1806, the property has remained in the hands of the Chauvet family to this day.

Since 1970, the estate has been successfully managed by my father, Bernard CHAUVET (8th generation) and I decided to join him, about 30 years ago, in order to take charge of the winemaking and management of the estate. I had the chance to discover and learn the profession of winegrower with my grandfather, Jean, then my father Bernard.

Over the years and successive generations, many improvements have been made, both to the vineyard and to the estate. Indeed, my grandfather was a pioneer by planting in 1966 one of the first two plots of Syrah present in Gigondas and my father, Bernard, continued by constantly maintaining and renovating the vineyard in which Grenache plots from 1919 and 1929 are still in production and religiously maintained.

I had the chance to discover and learn the profession of winegrower with my grandfather, Jean, and my father Bernard. When I decided to join them at the estate, the marketing was already developed with a single bottle of Gigondas, I continued the work to develop sales and today we have six different cuvées to offer for tasting. More recently, with the help of two talented architects from Gigondas, in 2013 we set out to create a new tasting space that is more functional, more modern and more welcoming.

Since 1893, the date when the Chauvet Family received its first “gold medal” at the General Agricultural Fair in Paris, the estate’s wines have been regularly rewarded.

Our Domaine has been awarded the highest accolade “Laureat du Prix d’Excellence 2012 “chosen from all the wines in the Rhone Valley.
This award has been obtained because we have won the largest number of Gold Medals at the “Concours Général Agricole” for the last three years. This prize honours men and women for the exceptional and constant quality of their products.
This distinction was presented at the Ministery of Agriculture on the 20th december 2011.

The President of the “Concours des Grands Vins de France” at Mâcon has awarded the Grapillon d’or estate the Trophy which recompenses the producer with the most medals in the Rhone Valley over the last five years. February 2017.

Céline CHAUVET