Château Saint Estève’s Côtes du Rhone wines are the result of long tradition, expert knowledge and hands-on experience applied to the same terroir throughout the years, one that is recognised in the Rhoney Valley for its distinctive quality (Massif d’Uchaux AOC).
Château Saint Estève d’Uchaux produces superior wines, blends of the Grenache and Syrah grapes, that reflect their southern Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône Villages terroirs. Located a few kilometres away from Châteauneuf du Pape, the domaine is also known as one of the foremost producers of Viognier in the Rhone Valley.
At the heart of the Rhone Valley, in a natural environment surrounded by wooded hills (the garrigue, or scrubland) and wild Mediterranean herbs and plants, away from major roads, it was only natural that Marc Français decided to convert Saint Estève’s vineyard to organic viticulture. The wines from the 2009 vintage will be labeled AB (Agriculture Biologique), certified by Ecocert. The 2009 vintage will be an exceptional one for another reason as well, as it marks the bicentenary of the same family producing wine on the property. It is therefore little wonder that in Château Saint Estève’s wines, you find a traditional, authentic style, technical expertise, elegance and the noble character that comes naturally from years of experience working Côtes du Rhône soil in Provence. Château Saint Estève is responsible for introducing Viognier to the southern Rhone Valley.
Château Saint Estève d’Uchaux itself is a beautiful architectural collection of buildings with majestic facades, set in the middle of 150 hectares of hills where pine, oak and strawberry trees, thyme, rosemary and most other scrubland herbs thrive. (Jean-Henri Fabre’s l’Harmas, a botanic garden, is close by, showcasing all the local herbs and plants.) It is these very same hills that create the border for the Massif d’Uchaux appellation, whose wines are produced by just a dozen or so producers.
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From the tasting room, which is in fact three rooms one after the other, you can admire a part of the vineyard and a collection of old nettle trees that provide shade and cooler temperatures during the heat of the summer.
The Château’s big terrace, looking out over the plain in the direction of Orange, is where melodramatic piano lovers congregate in the summer for the Liszt Festival in Provence. Finally, the Orangerie, entirely dedicated to music and where two concert pianos comfortably share the space with portraits of composers, is where the “Orangerie Sunday” concerts are held, well followed in the winter by music lovers.
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