Serre Besson Vinsobres 2019

The hilltop village of Vinsobres is situated between the Pré-Alpes and Mont Ventoux in the northeastern corner of the Côtes du Rhône “méridionale”. After having been classified as Côtes du Rhône Villages, Vinsobres was elevated to “Cru” status in 2006, becoming the first in the Drôme department. The majority of Vinsobre’s vineyards were planted as a result of the devasting frost of 1956 which wiped out the village’s olive groves. The slopes were re-planted with vines giving the appellation a high percentage of old vines. The vineyards range from 200 to 500 meters in elevation and Vinsobres’ unique terroir is considered by many to be the finest for Syrah in the southern Rhône.

Victor Taylor is an American wine professional who somehow wound up in the remote town of Nyons in the Drôme department (had to be either a witness protection program or an addiction to olive oil:). In 2011, not far from Nyons, he stumbled upon some old vines sloping away from the Vinsobres plateau with a breathtaking view of Mont Ventoux and a “for sale” sign. Let us just say that after 5 years of relentless effort he and his partner, Xavier Nyssen produced their first vintage in 2016. The 10 hectare domaine lies at an altitude of 450 meters in the “lieu dit” called “Les Côtes”. The land is split evenly between vineyards and forest. The Serre Besson vineyard slopes down from the forested mountain crest with Syrah planted at the highest elevation and the other varieties continuing on down the hill. Within the 5 hectares of vineyards, there are 11 parcels, one hectare of which was planted in 1961 with mixed rows of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvédre. The vineyard’s soils are a mix of clay, limestone and river stones rich in calcite. Victor and Xavier began farming organically in 2016 and obtained certification in 2019. 

The Vinsobres blend changes according to the vintage, but is typically 50% Grenache, 35% Syrah, and 15% mixed Cinsault, Mourvédre, and Carignan. Reflecting the different varieties and parcels, four lots of wine are fermented separately. One lot includes the co-planted old vines, where the different varieties are harvested together and give the wine an interesting mix of ripeness and alcohol levels. Being risk averse, Victor and Xavier ferment with indigenous yeast if conditions permit or will use a neutral selected yeast. The grape bunches are de-stemmed before being fed into cement tanks with a certain proportion of the stems layered back into the tank interspersed with the grapes. Blending of the lots is done the following spring. The wine is then matured partially in cement tanks and partially in 400L oak ovals, about 25% new French oak. 

Victor and Xavier also built a small winery into the side of the mountain allowing them to use gravity rather than pumps to move their crushed grapes into the fermentation tanks. They harvest by hand and manually sort all of the grape bunches that enter the cellar.