About the vintage : A vintage all in balance, combining freshness and greed. After a year 2019 marked by a very dry summer, the vintage 2020, exceptionally early, marks the return of fresher wines, endowed with great balance. The very mild spring quickly confirms the great precocity of the vintage with a flowering in mid-May. Rains are almost absent from mid-June to early August, until several rainy episodes come to prevent any risk of water stress. The vintage is characterized by beautiful acidities and a lot of elegance for white wines. The reds have a beautiful freshness with very silky tannins.
Plots : La Bertaude, Bois-Lauzon, Cabrières d'Orange, Cabrières de Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Bois-Dauphin, Le Pied Long, Les Bousquets, Terres Blanches, Les Marines, Les Galimardes.
Terroir : The richness of Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine St Patrice comes from the diversity of its terroirs. Clay-sandy soils with predominant white clay, red clay covered with rolled pebbles, but also limestone stones and some touches of yellow clays make up the solid base or green serenely our vines.
Viticulture : In November, begins the period of winter plowing, the first intervention after the harvest period: it is necessary to aerate the land and protect the stump from the cold. The pruning of the shoots takes place as late as possible. It is necessary to wait for the remontant sap, in order to avoid any phytosanitary risk. Thus, the bud break is receded.
Follows in Spring, at the beginning of the month of May, the second period of plowing. It aims to air the stump and rootstock, in order to warm them up to stimulate the vine. This is followed by some hoeing, chosen opportunely in order to level the soil and avoid the drought from taking hold of the foot. The grapes will be able to begin their growth phase. In order to obtain optimal maturity, we trim 20 cm around the bunch. Even if technological maturity is reached, we must wait for phenolic maturity, which will arrive more slowly... The harvest starts in mid-September with Syrah at the top of the list and ends in mid-October with Mourvèdre.
Blend : Grenache (70%), Mourvèdre (20%), Syrah (10%)
Vinification & Aging : Whole harvest between 30 and 60% depending on the grape varieties. Pre-fermentation maceration and alcoholic fermentation in concrete tanks exclusively. Light pumping over and infusion of marc for nearly 5 weeks.
Aging for 16 months in concrete tanks, foudres, demi-muids and French oak barrels.
Bottling in Spring and storage for 2 years in the cellar before marketing.
