Domaine Gourt de Mautens Vaucluse Rouge 2017 – 750ml Terroir

96pts Jeb Dunnuck

Sporting a deep purple hue, the 2017 Vaucluse is based on 50% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre, and the rest Counois, Carignan, and other southern Rhône varieties. Incredible notes of plums, blueberries, jammy blackberries, lavender, and ground herbs emerge from this full-bodied, massive wine that stays light on its feet and graceful. I’ve no doubt the alcohol is north of 16%, and I suspect there’s 3-5 grams of residual, which puts this in the same realm as the iconic Cuvée Spéciale from the late Henri Bonneau. Exotic, port-like, and super-intense, it nevertheless has remarkable purity, ripe tannins, and a thrilling finish. This will be a controversial wine in some circles, as it doesn’t conform to any type of typicity, but it’s no less great. It should have 20 years of prime drinking.

Winemaker Notes

Gourt de Mautens is a family owned winery located in Rasteau that started in 1996. In 1998, Jerome Bressy took over the 13 hectares of vineyard and for him it was a dream come true. Next the winery and the ageing cellar were built.
This is the insider’s wine of the Southern Rhone. Many winemakers in the Rhone Valley, Christophe Delorme (Domaine de la Mordoree) included, feel that Jerome Bressy will be making the best wines in the entire Southern Rhone Valley in the future.
Jerome chose the options of small yields (8-15 hectoliters/hectare) and organic farming (now controlled by Ecocert) along with the use of homeopathy, which he considers essential conditions for making a great wine. Since 1989 they have not used any chemical fertilizers or pesticides on the vines, so the soil can give what it has to give in the most natural way. The yields have always been lower than average because of his father’s concern about grape quality. The estate took another step forward in the organic farming by becoming biodynamic in 2007.
The Domaine produces an average of 2,000 cases each year, red and white wine, both of equal quality (not quantity), from small different plots in Rasteau. These are homogeneous wines as each plot is farmed with the same concern for perfection, regardless of any difference in quality among them. The goal being to be at nature’s service, stepping in the process only when necessary.
The name of the Estate, “Gourt de Mautens”, is the name of the area where part of the vineyard and the family farm are located. This name dates back to 1635. In provencal dialect “Gourt” means a place where the water flows from and “mautens” means bad weather. Thus, it is an area where water flows from chalky clay marly soil when it rains.

“This is one of the sensational estates in Rasteau, with proprietor Jerome Bressy farming just over 20 acres of vines. Organic farming and the naturally low yields of his old vines (8-15 hectoliters per hectare) result in wines of extraordinary concentration and intensity.”