Clos des Grillons Une Île

Winemaker: Nicolas Renaud 

Appellation: Côtes du Rhône, France

Grape Varieties: Mourvèdre, Picpoul Gris, Picardan

For Une Île, half of the grapes underwent carbonic maceration, and the other half
were pressed directly. Afterwards, the Mourvèdre, Picardan, and Picpoul Gris are
blended together and aged for around 6 months before bottling. This is not a grape
combination that we come across every day. While Picardan is already quite rare,
Picpoul Gris is even trickier to find. In fact, there are only around 5 hectares of this
grape left in France! All three grapes are among the 18 permitted in Châteauneuf-
du-Pape. We find a red (yes it is a red) with such a pale color, that by looking at the
wine, it could easily be mistaken as a rosé or a Poulsard from Jura. This wine is
incredibly expressive: Une Île has notes of watermelons, pomegranate, and apricots.
It is hard to believe that this wine is 14.5% ABV! This wine is perfect for enjoying a
summer evening, grilling with friends, and could be paired with pork, chicken, and
many dishes paired with summer Provençal vegetables, such as tomatoes, eggplant,
and zucchini.

Nicolas Renaud, a former history and geography teacher, was exposed to wine at a young age growing up near Avignon, as his father was passionate about wine and often shared his passion with his son. In 2002, Nicolas had the chance to taste the wines of Eric Pfifferling in his cellar, he knew that he wanted to make natural wine. He worked for two years with Vieille Julienne in Châteauneuf-du-Pape before he started making his own wine in 2008 in Rochefort-du-Gard.

Nicolas has plots of land that would be in the Côtes du Rhône and Tavel appellations. He has a considerable amount of old vines: some are up to 120 years old! In addition to growing well known grapes such as Grenache Noir and Mourvèdre, he also possesses some grapes that are hard to find anywhere else, such as Picpoul Gris (only 5 hectares exist in France!), Picardan, Bourboulenc, and Clairette Gris, among others. Yields are low, typically between 20-25 Hl/Ha. No additives are used in the wine making process, and typically less than 1g/L of sulfites are added at bottling, if any at all.

There is an indescribable purity that is found in the wines of Nicolas. 

-FR Wine Imports