From the Séguret region of the Côtes du Rhône Villages, experience the classic Boutinot ‘Les Coteaux Schisteux’. This opulent Grenache-driven blend offers an explosive nose with exotic spices and hints of vanilla, followed with a palate of smooth texture and satisfying depth. Enjoy with big hearty casseroles, tagines, ratatouille, or simply a platter of mature hard cheeses.

About the Producer

Boutinot’s love affair with the Southern Rhône spans thirty years of making wine in the region. In 2010, the relationship was sealed with the purchase of a winery and vineyards above the village of Cairanne. Domaine Boutinot’s seven vineyards are planted with classic southern Rhône grape varieties – old vine Grenache Noir and Syrah, Mourvèdre and Carignan Noir – and they all sit within the Cairanne Cru boundaries, sanctioned in 2016 when Cairanne was granted its own appellation status.

Working with their vigneron neighbours Boutinot are helping to revive traditional grape varieties such as Cinsault and Counoise. In the cellar they use the time-honoured winemaking methods such as a long cuvasion aided only by natural yeasts, gentle remontage, manual pigeage and patient maturation in a nursery of French oak barrels.

Vineyard and Winery

For this wine Boutinot prefer high altitude east-facing vineyards with stony, argillaceous limestone terraces high above the ‘slopes of ‘slopes of schiste’ above the pretty village of Séguret. In one such plot (planted well over fifty years ago) it is found that Grenache Noir, intermingled here and there with some Syrah, benefits from the morning sun and even ripening temperatures. Grapes can only be harvested by hand in this unforgiving hillside terroir. In the cellar vinification is traditional, with a long cuvasion using only naturally occurring wild yeasts, aided by regular remontage to release all the potential of the grapes and their skins. The wine is then allowed to mature for up 22 months in French oak, an equal combination of previously filled 228l barrels and 600l demi-muids.