In this mellow month of June, which heralds the beginning of summer and the national day dedicated to music, A.O.C Rasteau has decided to talk to you about the Domaine de Crémonewhich has given an equally musical name to its Cuvée Rasteau: “1er Violon”. . It is one of the most recent wine estates to have taken root in Rasteau. This father and son team decided to join our merry band, and we wanted to tell you their story, as melodically as possible!

To start things off on a gentle beat, let us tell you a bit about their background. Patrice and Thomas both arrived in the region in 2011. Thomas immediately headed off to Burgundy to train in wine at the CFPPA agricultural school in Beaune for 18 months where he learnt about the winemaking process and how to tend the vines in a vineyard in Nuits-Saint-Georges – the Domaine Bertrand Machard de Gramont. Meanwhile, his father Patrice also followed a wine training course in Serres (Carpentras) as well as in Suze-la-Rousse.

After their training, Patrice and Thomas were on the lookout for a wine estate to buy, and finally decided to purchase vines from several winegrowers in Rasteau and Cairanne.

Every year, or as often as possible, they came to spend their holidays in Rasteau. They knew many of the winegrowers and loved the landscape between the Dentelles de Montmirail Mountains and Mont Ventoux. What’s more, they have always appreciated sweet wines (Vins Doux Naturels) and especially those from Rasteau. It was all these reasons that made them choose to establish themselves here.

So, in 2013, Thomas and Patrice began their adventure by creating the Domaine de Crémone. The name is a tribute to Thomas’s great grandfather, who was born in the Italian town of Cremona, also the cradle of the famous Stradivarius violins, which are represented on the wine bottles.

The vineyard is made up of 15 hectares shared between Cairanne and Rasteau, with 3.5 hectares in Rasteau.

They chose to call their wine Rasteau « 1er Violon » in reference to the first violin in an orchestra. The role of the first violinist is to play the A note when the orchestra tunes up and therefore must be in perfect pitch.  Patrice and Thomas felt that their Rasteau “1er Violon” would set the tone for all their wines.

« It is as hard to make a great wine as it is to play the violin well » Patrice Barbieri

Contact details:
Domaine de Crémone
Patrice & Thomas Barbieri
230, Chemin Beauregard
84290 Cairanne

Tel : +33.(0)7.78.41.73.44
Email : domainedecremone@gmail.com Website: : http://domainedecremone.fr/

Musical bonus : Patrice and Thomas share their musical favourites : David Garret
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

So, will you be trying this wine? And what music will you choose to accompany the tasting?
 Have fun during the ‘Fête de la musique’ and please share your experiences of this nationwide day of music with us on Facebook ou Instagram #vinsdeRasteau