Chapelle St. Theodoric

Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône Valley, France Chapelle St. Theodoric is a project between winemaker Baptiste Grangeon and Peter Weygandt. There are two parcels, one in the lieu dit La Guigasse, which is a pure sand soil and where the vines (all Grenache) range in age of from 50 to 100 years, and the other parcel at the top of Pignan, literally adjoining the vines of Chateau Rayas, also in pure sand, and also pure, old vines Grenache. The vines are all raised Biodynamically. The vinification is traditional, that is to say, whole-cluster, such as employed exclusively by Jacques Reynaud at Chateau Rayas, Laurent Charvin, Henri Bonneau. The two parcels are vinified and aged and bottled separately, but with the exact same treatment, the experiment being to find what terroir differences one might find in pure sand, between vines less than 200 meters apart, both on sand, pure Grenache, and traditional vinification. In other words, a study to find if Chateauneuf has similar fine differences in terroir, much as Burgundy. The Les Sablons cuvee is the final press wine of the two parcels blended, aged in older barrique, with some younger vines also in the assemblage.