Châteauneuf-du-Pape by Domaine de Marcoux 2019

There are old families in the Chateauneuf du Pape appellation and there are really old families from the region. The roots of Domaine de Marcoux date all the way back to about the year 1000 when Chateauneuf du Pape was not yet established.

The area was still known as Castrum Novum, which meant fortified village. At the time, the ancestors of the Armenier family went under the name of Armani. The estate takes its name from the village of Marcoux, located in the Alpes de Haute Provence.

While the owners of Domaine de Marcoux are obviously one of the oldest families in the Southern Rhone Valley, winemaking did not take place at Domaine de Marcoux until quite recently. The first vintage was 1989. In 1990, they began farming about 30% of their vineyards experimenting with biodynamic methods.

In 1995, the sisters, Catherine Armenier and Sophie Estevenin took over Domaine de Marcoux after their brother Philippe Armenier moved to Napa Valley.

Domaine de Marcoux now employs biodynamic practices on their 17.5 hectares of vines comprising 10 separate parcels. On average, their vines are close to 50 years old - the oldest more than 100 years old.

Domaine de Marcoux is a traditionally managed Rhone property. After harvest, a portion of the berries are destemmed and sorted to each specific grape variety before fermentation.

The fruit spends 3 weeks in concrete vats. Malolactic fermentation takes place in vats. At that point, the wine is aged in a combination of concrete vats and foudres for between 16 to 18 months before bottling.