DOMAINE LE SANG DES CAILLOUX

LVT 2017 r 2018 wh Top name, organic for years, biodynamic since 2011. Lopy is the top wine, made every year, and is the first selection from his cellar. It is always between **** and *****, the latter the case in 2010 and 2016. There is also Oumeto, which can be 100% old Grenache (mainly 1940s), and is produced in limited 1,500 bottle amounts. The title of the principal red wine rotates as Serge names it after his three daughters, one year at a time. So Floureto was the title in 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2004, 2001 etc. The other two are Doucinello (2017, 2014 etc) and Azalaïs (2015, 2012 etc). Serge officially "retired" on 1 October 2015, having arrived on the domaine in 1979. His son Frédéri is very enthusiastic about the vineyard, and is working well. He is gradually reducing the old Syrah for the Lopy wine, stating, quite correctly, that the Plateau de Garrigues is too hot for it. This is very much in the top three domaines of Vacqueyras, and the wines can be cellared for a couple of decades.
Serge Férigoule, son Frédéri route de Vacqueyras 84260 Sarrians
Tel: +33(0)490 65 88 64
le-sang-des-cailloux@wanadoo.fr
Countries exported to:1) USA 2) GB 3) Denmark – before was 1) USA 2) Ireland 3) GB
Percentage Exported: 50% - before was 50+%
British Importers: Christopher Piper, Devon EX11 1DB, +44(0)1404 814139, www.christopherpiperwines.co.uk ; Vine Trail The Poland Building Aardman Animations Gas Ferry Road Bristol BS1 6UN +44(0)117 921 1770 www.vinetrail.co.uk enquiries@vinetrail.co.uk ; Gauntley Wines, Nottingham, +44(0)115 911 0555, www.gauntley-wine.co.uk
USA Importers: Kermit Lynch, 1605 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94702, +1 510 524 1524, www.kermitlynch.com
Quotes
“I like to assemble early – soon after the sugars and malos have been done.”
Serge Férigoule
“2005 is more massive and hunky than 2006.”
Serge Férigoule
“Doucinelle 2005 is for drinking in warmer weather. Lopy 2005 is more structured but you could drink it a touch cool – at around 15° - with a rib of beef – but that is a sin, really.”
Serge Férigoule
“2013 has been hard to sell; people expected massive wines from Vacqueyras.”
Serge Férigoule
“There was a profusion of grapes in 2014 – we spent four months selecting the bunches. The vines wanted to recompense for the struggles of 2013 – there were flowers everywhere. Our yield ended at 33 hl/ha, against just 17 hl/ha in 2013.”
Frédéri Férigoule
“Our whites are keeping wines. You should leave them to one side for three to five years. They are always better in the less full vintages, when there has been more rain.”
Frédéri Férigoule
“The large crop in 2014 needed managing. The wines became ready very quickly, as they did in 2011 and 2008. They have less character than the 2013s, and are agreeable, balanced, based on pleasure, rounded.”
Serge Férigoule
“We are reducing the old Syrah for Lopy bit by bit. We may introduce Carignan for more acidity. The Plateau des Garrigues is too hot for Syrah, and in three days becomes too ripe.”
Frédéri Férigoule
“The 2017 harvest was very healthy, the stems in good shape, so we included some of them, and did a no SO2 vinification this year. We just lacked juice.”
Frédéri Férigoule
“The Oumage Vacqueyras started as an attempt to make a different wine, then to change the usual blends. The Grenache used for it is the same as Lopy.”
Serge Férigoule
“2018 was a catastrophe – we weren’t vigilant enough and lost 50%. The mildew went directly on to the bunches and the leaves at the same time. We were taken up with planting in April, as it had been too wet to plant in the usual slot of February. There was 30°C heat in the third week of April. We did a copper treatment, but the damage was done. It took us three weeks to harvest half a crop, which shows how complicated it was. We got to 17 hl/ha – what we harvested was OK, though it didn’t ripen easily.”
Serge Férigoule
“In 2018, one vat finished its sugars in just two days, was 13.5°. We are in unknown territory these days.”
Serge Férigoule