The smallest production of Crus

The Maison Perrin owns the largest surface area of vineyards in the Rhône Valley, totalling 250 hectares, with 100 at Beaucastel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and the rest in Vacqueyras, Gigondas, Cairanne, Vinsobres and Côtes-du-Rhône Villages. “In Rasteau, we leased out the land for a long time but today we are creating a single trade reference” explains Charles Perrin, one of the seven children of the current generation who recognises that Rasteau, with around 20,000 bottles per year, is the winery’s smallest production of Crus. It has had to abandon the three hectares on the south-facing hillside of l’Andéol which it had cultivated since the beginning of the ’90s but it has kept the name for its Rasteau wine. This wine is still made from 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah. “We have chosen this blend for most of the Rhône Valley Crus, except Vinsobres which is a 50-50 blend, and the Côtes-du-Rhône which are the only blends that sometimes include Mourvèdre».

 The Perrin mark

The Rasteau blend called “L’Andéol” is aged for 18 months in large foudre barrels. “The aim is to emphasise the always slightly overripe flavours of the grenache grapes, gorged with sun in this extraordinary terroir, while avoiding an overload of woody notes from the barrels, even if lots of our customers say that, above all, they recognise the mark of the Perrin family. The Rasteau is more supple than a Cairanne or a Vacqueyras and is great value for money in the Crus, which makes it an excellent addition to a wine merchant’s range

Everything together at Prébois

The most important qualities sought in all Maison Perrin wines are typicity, elegance, and finesse. The blending and aging are supervised at Le Grand Prébois vineyard, near Orange, which has benefited from major technical investments in the past five years. Everything has now been brought together at this location, which concentrates all the work that was previously shared out between half a dozen cellars acquired over the years in the Southern Rhône Valley. We are a long way from the plans of Gabriel Tramier who came up with the idea of buying Beaucastel back in 1909 to plant olive trees there. It was not until the ’50s that this vineyard really came to life again, the ’80s that trading developed with the brand “La Vieille Ferme”, sold at that time to the bars of Marseille via tanker truck. Then followed the purchase of several vineyards in the Southern Rhône Valley and the acquisition of Le Grand Prébois at the end of its beautiful lane edged with plane trees. Today things have changed and the Perrin Family now exports its wines all over the world.

Text: Frédérique Hermine – Terre de Vins for l’A.O.C Rasteau

More information : http://familleperrin.com/