2022 La Florane Cotes-du-Rhone "A Fleur" Rouge, Rhone Valley, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

The "Fleur de Pampre" (vine flower) rouge is made from Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Carignan. The 2022 is a beautiful Rhone red and a great value showing really pretty bright red fruit aromas, floral and fresh. The palate is silky, with nice freshness and density with distinctive cherry/plum fruit and good length. This is a lovely and verstile red to serve slightly cool.

Alcoholic fermentation in stainless steel vats, then aged on fine lees in concrete vats. Grapes are from vines at 300 metres altitude in clay-rich soils, and about 30 years old.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Domaine la Florane  represented the wines made from vines in Visan, on land handed down by the family of Marie-Pierre Fabre.

The vines in Saint-Maurice, meanwhile, bore the name of  Domaine de l’Échevin. Guillaume de Rouville, a family ancestor who was mayor of Lyon in 1586, owned land in the Rhône Valley, back when silk ruled supreme. He inspired the name Domaine de l’Échevin, created by François Fabre in the 1990s.

In 2001, the family’s two estates began using the same, specially-built vat room / cellar, but each estate kept its name. Then in 2019, they were united at last.

The cuvée names are unchanged: Échevin  and Guillaume de Rouville  are still used for the wines from the Saint-Maurice appellation. 

Three generations of vignerons, two terroirs, but the same family spirit. And a shared philosophy that now underpins a single identity.