Domaine Vendome, Crozes-Hermitage
Domaine Vendome
A rising star of the Northern Rhone
Although the Roudier family had farmed their estate in the hills immediately north of Tain l’Hermitage for several generations, they were not from a line of vignerons. Their roots lie in the other great agricultural traditions of the region, tending to more than 20 hectares of apricots and cherries, growing lavender, and hunting for truffles in the woodlands that fringed their orchards and fields. Yet it is hard to live so close to Hermitage and not to love the wines of the Northern Rhône, and when the latest in the dynasty, Pierre Roudier, took the reins of the estate, he set about converting some of their holdings to viticulture, planting 15 hectares of their land to vines from 2010 onwards. Their land, stretching from the hills around the village of Larnage, to the alluvial plain south of Tain and across the river to Cornas, was replete with impeccable terroir, including historic lieux-dits (Les Coulaires, for instance) which had been left to go fallow during the middle of the twentieth century. With the expertise of consultant oenologist Emmanuel Gagnepain to guide them, Domaine Vendome have made astonishing progress over the past 15 years, becoming one of the hottest small names in this sector of the Northern Rhône having started with almost nothing.
What we say:
The wine has a fairly classic Cornas nose, on the palate it is voluminous, lush and suave but fresh and balanced with real tension and energy. The wine is pure and very long. All the fruit destemmed, no oak breeding (all in stainless steel) with a four week maceration. A true terroir wine from a great Cornas site.
Vineyard sustainability
Presently, they have holdings of Syrah, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier, achieving organic certification in 2021, and are now working towards HVE status. Vendome produce two red Crôzes and one white Crôzes, a Syrah and Viognier bottled as Collines Rhodannienes, and a Cornas. Although their Viognier does not meet the cèpage requirement of Crôzes AOC, their vines are planted on some of the finest terroir in the appellation, with the freshness and intense minerality of all the best wines originating from the kaolin of Larnage. Vinification is plot by plot and terroir focussed, with most of Vendome’s cuvees bearing the name of their lieu-dit. Their Syrah from Crôzes is full of rich wild blackberry fruits and spice, and their Roussanne-Marsanne ‘Les Bruclas’ provides a winning combination of florality, deft acidity and a richly textured mouthfeel. Vineyard work is overwhelmingly manual, with strict yield restriction practices including disbudding, leaf removal, green harvesting and manual selection in the vineyard. Depending on the exact profile of the parcel, vinification is in oak, concrete or stainless.
Stylish, modern and fresh wines
Vendome’s Cornas is particularly striking, named after the seams of white Baryte crystals in the vineyard that lie amidst the decomposed granites more typical of the appellation. At an altitude (400m) that brings a degree of freshness to a wine often notable for its brooding puissance, this feels like the very essence of a modern Cornas, melding the sauvage side of the appellation with refinement and an enchanting bouquet of violets. Granitic minerality and a telltale hint of sweaty stallion rounded out with rich and powerful blackberry fruit, liquorice and smoke. A special wine.
Their Wines