Domaine d'Ouréa: the rising star of the Côtes du Rhône

Adrien Roustan is the young talent to watch immediately. A winemaker at Domaine d'Ouréa , primarily producing Vacqueyras wines, he has already won over sommeliers, wine merchants, and restaurateurs in his region. Proof of this: his 2014 Vacqueyras red wine received a score of 90/92 from Parker and 15.5 from Bettane.

Hardworking, conscientious, and humble, Adrien is passionate about vines and nature. He cultivates his plots naturally, seeking the perfect balance between grapes and terroir to create artistic, elegant, refined, and remarkably light wines. This small 20-hectare estate continues to gain recognition with wines that delight tasters. In short, a real gem, as they say in the wine world.

Ouréa's estate: "Haute couture organic"

Adrien has cultivated a passion for winemaking since childhood. When he took over the vineyards of the Ouréa estate, which belonged to his grandfather, he breathed new life into the business. Moving away from traditional, conventional methods, he initiated a shift towards a more natural and authentic approach. He certified the estate as organic : "I work with my vines as naturally as possible, without using any chemicals or synthetic products," he explains, and he goes even further by limiting inputs to avoid soil pollution. He aptly points out that " working naturally doesn't disrupt the soil's biological cycle. Pure soil allows us to produce grapes with great flavor ."

According to Adrien, " to make good wines, you have to respect some great principles: work organically or naturally in the vineyards; have good grape varieties or good locations obtained from fine selections; harvest by hand; vinification without the addition of oenological products and have an artistic side."

Although very pragmatic, the young winemaker also brings a philosophical dimension to his work: " I consider myself an artist of wine. A new vintage is a blank sheet of paper on which everything will be written. You have to work with nature to make a unique wine. "

Adrien Roustan: the farmer

" What I like most about being a winemaker? It's working with the vines. We think they're dead in winter, and they wake up in spring in a different way every year. I'm always moved."

The daily focus is therefore on working the plots, the soil, and the grapes. " The most important thing is working the vines and the soil. The goal is to have soil with flavor, living soil." Thanks to amendments and manure, the soils of the Ouréa estate vineyards ensure high-quality grapes. Highly conscientious, Adrien refuses mechanical work and tends each vine by hand and individually. Soil work is done with a horse, a gentler method than mechanization, to avoid damaging the soil and the vines. " We work on a bespoke basis: vine by vine, plot by plot. "

But that's not all: the perfect match between carefully selected grape varieties and the terroirs contributes to the success of these wines. " Grenache, Carignan, and Cinsault are planted at their northernmost limit of cultivation. On these terroirs, they will reach a very fresh ripeness and express great finesse and elegance. "

In the cellar, the principles remain the same: winemaking is carried out in a very natural way. Indigenous yeasts work one after the other on the alcoholic fermentation; " each yeast works in its own time, bringing its own typicity, aromas, and originality ." Interventions are minimized with the aim of obtaining wines that reflect their terroirs and express " the taste of the place where the grapes were born. "

Our favorite wines from the estate:

Gigondas 2017

Vacqueyras 2017

Corkscrew 2018

From Vacqueyras to Gigondas: wines that express their terroirs.

The wines of Domaine d'Ouréa reflect the winemaker, his work and his philosophy: "If you make wines that are too academic, it's interesting at first, but then they become tiresome, first for you and then for the enthusiasts. Trying to make your own wine and having your own philosophy, that's what's interesting."

The Ouréa estate offers 4 wines. One white wine – a single-varietal Clairette from the Vacqueyras appellation – and 3 red wines:

• Ouréa's flagship wine is a Vacqueyras appellation : " These are clay wines, expressive, very approachable, and tactile. The diversity of the soils makes them very complex wines, " explains the winemaker. The 2014 vintage was described by Parker as a sensational wine, with a deep red color and aromas of black fruit, licorice, and Provençal herbs. The blend is primarily composed of old vines—some dating back to 1918—of Grenache (70%), Syrah (20%), Carignan, and Cinsault. The grapes are vinified together to give the wine great harmony.
• A Gigondas appellation wine. The mountain vines on limestone rock produce wines of great finesse, beautiful and nuanced. " They are less demonstrative than Vacqueyras wines, but they have a lot of class and are very refined. "
• The Tire Bouchon cuvée is made from old grape varieties from Œillade and Aramon. These are "wines of tenderness, lightness with always a lot of charm," confides Adrien.
  

"The 2016 vintage is going to be exceptional."

“2016 was a very pleasant surprise. We had a somewhat dry year and a warm spring. The healthy grapes reached optimal ripeness with low alcohol levels, resulting in wines of great lightness. We have beautiful, silky, and deep colors, with tannins that are both supple and well-integrated. Aromatically, the wines are precise and very approachable. It's a truly great vintage. We were lucky. It's going to be exceptional. We worked hard, the hard work paid off, and we're going to be very proud of these wines.”

Don't wait any longer to come and discover the wines of this estate on the Les Grappes website!