Joli Vin imports

Domaine Robert Sérol - Côte Roannaise

Drive about 50 km west of Lyon in southeastern France and you cross the Loire River and enter the city of Roanne. Continue due west another 10 km and you climb toward the picturesque town of Renaison and the center of one of the Loire’s least known wine appellations, the Côte Roannaise, and one of it’s youngest as well, awarded AC status in 1994. Renaison lies midway along a stretch of east facing hills, the Monts de la Madeleine, which sit upon a vein of granite and provide the foundation for this, the second most southern of appellations in the Loire Valley wine growing region. Damn, is there no end to this river and to the number of wine appellations within its reach?

With vineyards between 350 and 550 m, the vineyards lie well above the damp weather that can be found lower down in the plain while the hills behind and to the west, rising to over 1000 m, offer protection from the weather systems which move toward the east, just as the Vosges mountains offer the vineyards of Alsace the same shelter. There is not a lot of surface planted to the vine here, only about 200 hectares, and much of the wine produced is rustic in character, but the granite based soils provide a natural companion for these Gamay based wines and the best can rival the lighter Beaujolais crus not far to the east.

It is here, looking down over the great plains to the east, that one finds the family domaine of Robert Sérol, passed from father to son through 5 generations and dating back to the 18th century. While it is patriarch Robert who began to bottle on the estate for the first time in 1971 and created the domaine in its current configuration and who can still be found among the vines or in the cuvérie, as the workload demands, it is son Stéphane who has taken over the management of these 20 hectares of vines, ranging from 5 to 80 years, since 2000.

The production here is entirely devoted to Gamay Saint Romain, issued from a variety of high elevation parcels and exposures, and as a result of the great foresight of high density plantings, 9000 vines per hectare, comparable to those found in Burgundy, the domaine is able to keep yields per vine low and quality very high. It’s a vineyard management philosophy that encourages vines to grow their root systems deep as vine competes with vine for limited water and nutrients and the character of the fruit is driven more by what is found in the subsoil. Since 2005 the domaine is certified by Terra Vitis as practicing “Agriculture Raisonée” in accord with the regulations set out by that organization to bring integration between all the actors in the viticultural environment, man, plant, soil, flora, fauna and countryside.

In the cellar, Stéphane has built on the successes of his father and continues to push quality ever higher. All the parcels are now vinified separately in cement tanks which allows for the greatest expression of each individual parcel and control over crafting individual cuvées. Employing only native yeasts, fermentations are done by whole cluster entirely, allowing for a cooler fermentation temperature which preserves fresh fruit flavors and adds a thread of spice that weaves through all of their cuvées. The wines crafted at the Sérol domaine capture all of the charming pleasures of the Gamay fruit and set the standard for what the wines from this little know appellation are capable of achieving.

www.domaine-serol.com