Lot presentation

Côte-Rôtie Viallière Clusel-Roch 2020

The wine

The history of Maison Clusel-Roch dates back to 1935 when Baptiste Clusel planted his parcels with the Syrah varietal. However, it was not until 1969 that the first vintage was produced – bottled by Baptiste’s son René. The property now extends to 20 hectares. The harvest is done by hand and the grapes are sorted meticulously.
The vines are aged 30 years and are organically farmed. Gilbert Clusel, his wife Brigitte Roch and their son Guillaume Clusel are in charge today. The property extends over some 20 hectares. The harvest is manual. A rigorous sorting of the grapes is carried out. This Côte Rotie (100% Syrah) has benefited from a south-eastern exposure over an area of 0.7 hectares. Using massal selection to produce more complex grapes, in this case from the Serine Ampuis varietal.
In the cellar, as with the rest of the vintages, the estate lets the indigenous yeasts act during fermentation. Extracted very gently at low temperature, this cuvée gives a juicier substance while remaining firm. Extracted gently at a low temperature, this wine is juicy yet firm. It is aged in oak barrels for 2 years, of which 25% are new. It is a fine-grained French oak with 4 years’ drying. On the nose, the aromas of black fruit and spices dominate and the aromatic persistence is superb. This wine is produced in small quantities (3,000 bottles per year). Serve this Côte-Rotie at 16°C, accompanied by a duck with peach sauce, French specialty hare Lièvre à la Royale or a leg of lamb with a Provençal stew

About the Producer Clusel-Roch

Domaine Clusel-Roch's farming heritage goes back decades, before Rhône crus even became a force in the wine world, but until the 1980s it did not produce the renowned Côte-Rôtie wines that it produces today. Gilbert Clusel arrived at the domaine after completing his studies and worked tirelessly, clearing and revitalising the old abandoned vines. In the 1990s saw the domaine transform. Massal Selection (replanting new vineyards with cuttings from exceptional old vines), the omission of chemical products and the construction of a new winery all contributed to the domain's transformation. Gilbert and Brigitte then obtained organic certification in 2002, an impressive feat at a time when not much Côte-Rôtie was organic: the steep slopes in this area make it difficult to cultivate the vineyards organically. Today, Gilbert and Brigitte's son Guillaume is more or less responsible for the running of the domaine. After Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu, he introduced a third appellation to the domaine's portfolio, the AOC Coteaux du Lyonnais

Detailed characteristics