Domaine de Marcoux Raisin de Loup 2015/16

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

In a region renowned for ‘funk’, the Sophie and Catherine Armenier firmly subscribe to the fruit-equals-terroir school of wine. They love wines of purity, clarity, perfume, seduction and balance; a manifesto that can be tasted across the domaine’s five wines. In the winery the Armenier sisters meddle as little with the natural process as possible. With such pure and balanced ingredients, they don’t need to. All fermentations are natural and the wines see no new oak. Their winemaking principles can be described by quoting Sophie Armenier; “We interfere with the vinification as little as possible. We don’t do any pigeage to get colour, because we just don’t want to get in the way of the fruit.”

This tiny, artisanal Domaine is one of the French pioneers of biodynamic viticulture – they were the first in Châteauneuf to convert to biodynamics some 22 years ago. Since this time, and especially since 1996 when the Armenier sisters took full control of the Estate, Domaine de Marcoux has been on a steady path to becoming one of the true greats of the region. Yet, they are so small, only producing between two to four thousand cases for the world that for many, they remain a hidden treasure. To put things their volumes in perspective, this is roughly half the production of DRC and something like 1/10th of Beaucastel. ô