Chateau Dauphine-Rondillon, Loupiac 2010

Grapes crushed. No pre-fermentive maceration. Natural yeast. Fermentation starts in stainless steel (temp of 16-18C) and then barriques for 10-20 days depending on the vintage. Elevage - In vats of 1 and 2 years old for 14 months with no racking. No malolactics. Kieselguhr filtation. Bottled once per vintage/year. 10,000 bottles.

Siblings Sandrine Darriet-Froléon and Jean-Christophe Darriet are the eighth generation to take charge of this 9ha estate located in the heart of the Loupiac appellation. They are fortunate to be working with some incredibly old vines (many of them are 90yo or more), biodiversity is important to them and trees were planted throughout the plots, limiting the amount of mechanisation possible. Their estate is situated on the upper slopes of the appellation, where the soil is mainly clay and limestone. Late into the autumn and encouraged by the mists that follow the course of the Garonne river, the vines yield tiny amounts of grapes affected by botrytis cinerea (noble rot). While the conditions may not be quite as favourable for its development as they are across the river in Sauternes, a strict sorting process sees each plot harvested in five tries ensuring that only grapes in perfect conditions go into the press.