Clusel-Roch, amon the best winemaers in Cote Rotie.

Gilbert Clusel and Brigitte Roch take care of the vineyards of Cote Rotie and Condrieu, while their son Guillaume manages the Coteaux du Lyonnais. Passionate winemakers, the "Clusel-Roch" are proud of their farmer roots.

They have naturally chosen organic farming to "keep their terroir alive", and have the label since 2002. But organic does not do it all! We see here that the domain is held by real lovers of the land and the "living". Each planting has been done "internally" thanks to "house grafts" made from mass selections from old "serines" (the traditional syrah of Ampuis) chosen from the best single vineyard of Cote Rotie "Les Grandes Places". These "serines" are certainly less productive, but their aromatic characteristics are much better than the modern selections used in the neighbourhoud ... Small details that make the difference at the end!

Despite very steep slopes, the family chose manual plowing and clawing to prevent the grass from invading the vines (however, in wintertime, the grass is kept on prupose in the vines to maintain the biological balance of the soil and limit erosion). Sometimes when it's really too steep, the winemakers must use winches and dig themselves, in order to avoid any chemical treatment that would weaken the soil.

The terroir of Clusel-Roch is composed of arzels (decomposed micachists), naturally poor and very stony. Before harvesting, the winemakers check the maturity of the grapes almost daily. They analyse and taste the berries, in order to determine the best harvest date. The harvest is manual, made by experienced grape harvesters. They put the grapes in small boxes as in most of the renowned estates, to keep healthy berries until vinification.

Once they arrive the winery, the grapes are partially destemmed and then gravity fed. During the vinification (at moderate temperature for a gentle extraction), pigeages and blends are made. After a few weeks (between 2 and 4 according to the vintage), the Cote Rotie are transfered into oak barrels (20% new) for ageing and the Coteaux du Lyonnais in stainless steel vats.