Cotes Catalanes Cuvée du Patron, Clos du Rouge Gorge Cyril Fhal 2022

Clos du Rouge Gorge was founded in 2002 by Cyril Fhal after he left the Loire Valley in search of a landscape capable of delivering delicacy, depth and a quietly expressive form of southern French character. He found it in Latour de France in the upper Agly Valley, a remote and windswept corner of northern Roussillon marked by ancient bush vines rooted in schist, gneiss and granite. Fhal assembled a patchwork of old parcels perched on steep terraces between 250 and 350 metres where farming is entirely manual and carried out according to organic and biodynamic principles. His aim has always been to channel purity and tension rather than the muscularity often associated with the region, working with extremely low yielding vines, native plant cover, careful pruning and meticulous harvest selection. In the cellar he follows a Burgundian sensibility that favours indigenous yeasts, whole clusters when suitable, neutral vessels, long ageing and minimal sulphur to present each site as transparently as possible.

Cotes Catalanes Cuvée du Patron 2022 is drawn from some of Fhal’s older Grenache and Carignan parcels planted on schist terraces around Latour de France. The 2022 season was shaped by a very dry winter and spring that further reduced already modest yields, followed by a hot summer tempered by persistent north winds that protected acidity and slowed ripening. The resulting fruit was small and concentrated yet balanced, retaining the clarity and lift so characteristic of the domaine. Grapes were harvested by hand in successive careful rounds, then fermented spontaneously with a notable share of whole clusters to enhance aromatic brightness and structural finesse. Extraction was kept to a gentle infusion to avoid weight and to preserve the delicate mineral signature of the soils. Ageing took place for around twelve months in older Burgundian barrels and cement, allowing the wine to evolve slowly without any imprint of oak. The style is poised and detailed, showing red berries, wild herbs, cool earth, spice and a precise, graphite toned mineral line carried by fine tannins and sustained freshness.

Origin Latour de France, Cotes Catalanes, Roussillon, France

Grapes Grenache, Carignan

Vintage 2022

Alcohol 13%

Style Detailed, lifted, mineral, refined

Bottle size 75cl

Winemaking Organic and biodynamic farming, hand harvested, whole cluster used as appropriate, native yeast fermentation, gentle infusion maceration, aged in old barrels and cement, minimal sulphur, unfined, unfiltered

Notes Terroir expressive, schist influenced, purity focused, old vine depth