At A Glance
- Field
- Detail
- Producer
- Les Vignerons d'Estezargues
- Region
- Gard
- Appellation
- Côtes du Rhône
- Grape varieties
- Grenache, Syrah, Carignan and Mourvèdre
- Named wine
- Terre de Mistral Reserve Côtes du Rhône Organic
- Defining feature
- Natural winemaking
The Producer
The cooperative cellar produces approximately 2 million bottles annually. Les Vignerons d'Estezargues was founded in 1965.
Three quarters of the vineyard area holds organic certification. The remaining parcels are in conversion or managed through sustainable practices. The cooperative combines this farming approach with wines made from member growers' vineyards.
Place
The vineyards therefore extend across multiple grower holdings, within a cooperative rather than a single estate.
Sand and stone make up the vineyard soil. The mistral wind also helps prevent disease naturally, reducing dependence on pesticide treatments across the vineyards.
Story
In 1989, Nicq changed how the cooperative bottled its wines. The cellar had traditionally blended the wines from all members. Nicq chose to bottle each estate's production separately, moving from one collective blend to estate by estate bottlings. The choice put each estate's production into its own bottle.
Wines
The named bottle is Terre de Mistral Reserve Côtes du Rhône Organic, a red Côtes du Rhône from the 2024 vintage. It is made from Grenache, Syrah, Carignan and Mourvèdre, four grape varieties that give the wine its Rhône blend.
In The Glass
Terre de Mistral has a spicy profile, with blackberry and woodland raspberry alongside violet, black pepper, bay leaf and licorice. Dark fruit supplies the centre of the tasting profile, while floral, herbal and savoury notes fill out the aroma and palate.
A Bottle To Understand It
Terre de Mistral Reserve Côtes du Rhône Organic is the bottle to open first from this producer. Spontaneous fermentation keeps commercial yeast out of the cellar, while no fining or filtration leaves the wine in its natural state. Fermentation and skin maceration take place in steel tanks for approximately two weeks, followed by four to five months on lees. Lees ageing keeps wine in contact with spent yeast cells and can add breadth and savoury depth.
Final Word
Les Vignerons d'Estezargues is a Gard cooperative with separate estate bottling and natural winemaking across its member vineyards.