Nice pics, as usual. For some reason Iâve become very thirstyâŚ
What varietal of wine are we looking at? Odd seeing a vineyard âon the rocksâ like that.
Looks like that vineyard would be an ankle breaker. Very interesting!
Yes I had never seen stones like that before. I have imbibed my good share of Beaucastel over the years, it must be a fairly big vineyardâŚ
So, Beaucastel is the variety? Never heard of it before. Is it a white only, or are there red varieties?
Back when I was kind of into wine, one of my favorites was a white from the Loire valley called Chateau Moncontour. I tried many different varietals from all over the world, and I often seemed to go back to this one. I liked the lightness of it, you could seem to taste a bit of chalkiness, but it wasnât unpleasant, just interesting.
http://fineterroir.com/product/chateau-montcontour-vouvray-demi-sec/
Maybe someone should start a wine thread somewhere? It is fruit relatedâŚ
Maintaining them that way may be intended to radiate heat back up on the fruit at night.
The area is known for Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre. Beaucastel is a producer.
Iâve heard of that but never seen it - hauling all those stones
Iâd hate to think of trying to grow any other crop on that land
Beaucastel is indeed the producer. They are the finest producer of Chateauneuf du Pape. The stones are there to force the roots downward. They will grow downward to forty feet. That way the rootstock is always protected from a frost, should there be one. The best kept US secret is that the âwhiteâ chateau Beaucastel is excellent. It takes seven different grapes to make it, along with âredâ chateauneuf. I asked to bring some of the rocks home (yep they are on my windowsill!). The rocks have been there before we were all born. The roots are always reaching for water. The production is not huge but terribly expensive. They gave us a private tasting. Easy to ship home and take a number of bottles back to the house. Very elegant place, the owners are delightful brothers.
Scott it is rather small, actually. Their production is outstanding, how much did you drink?
What is that dude doing in that barrel? Is he doing some stompinâ? Maybe cleaning it out? Or doing some âquality controlâ?
All I know is I recognize the name and it was one of my go-toâs for Chateauneuf-du-Pape when I was big on that region. Iâll have to check out their white!
Yes, he is cleaning out the barrel. The smell of wine alcohol is so strong they can only be in the barrel for x amount of time before getting drunk!
But no calories!
Is there any wires to run the vines or each vine is shaped like a tree?
They use wires.