Ventoux Rouge 2024 Domaine de Fondrèche

Ventoux Rouge 2024 from Domaine de Fondrèche is the most approachable and generous red cuvée from this benchmark domaine of the appellation, a fruit-forward wine that captures all the seduction, pleasure and harmony of a Provençal summer in a bottle with remarkable value. This cuvée perfectly sums up the domaine's 2024 vintage. A wine of depth, with a mineral structure, poised between amplitude and freshness, between power and elegance.

Terroir and grape varieties

This Ventoux Rouge comes from the domaine's historic plateau, a terroir of clay-limestone pebbles mixed with flint and crystalline rock that has formed the geological foundation of Fondrèche since its acquisition by Nanou Barthélemy and her son Sébastien Vincenti in 1995. This substrate of rolled stones and flint, well-draining and thermally active, concentrates heat during the day and releases it gradually at night, favouring slow and harmonious ripening of Rhône valley varieties. The blend comprises Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Carignan, the four emblematic grape varieties of the southern Rhône Valley in their most balanced expression. The 50-hectare vineyard is worked without chemical herbicides, in biodynamic practice, with natural or sown vegetation cover, a lunar calendar guiding all vine interventions, and a nitrogen-pressurised press in the cellar that preserves aromatic freshness. Winemaking is traditional: a long maceration of 3 to 4 weeks with gentle punchdowns to encourage slow and progressive extraction, followed by 18 months ageing in foudres, barrels and ovoidal vats, on fine lees.

Tasting profile

The colour is deep, intense red, dark and luminous. The nose is complex, immediately expressive and generous: aromas of ripe red and black fruits, cherry, blackberry and blackcurrant, open with frankness and generosity, accompanied by notes of garrigue spice, violet and a delicate smoky character from the flint of the terroir. On the palate, good volume, freshness and silky tannins. The long maceration and gentle punchdowns produced precise and well-calibrated extraction, with fine tannins that are well-integrated in a remarkable velvety texture. The natural acidity preserved by the cool Ventoux nights brings drive and drinkability to a generous, well-nourished palate. The finish is fruity, spicy and persistent, with that return of garrigue and schistose minerality that is the absolute signature of Fondrèche's historic plateau.

The domaine

Nanou Barthélemy and her son Sébastien Vincenti acquired Domaine de Fondrèche in 1995, built and continuously refined the cellar, and reassembled a 50-hectare vineyard farmed organically in biodynamic spirit, establishing Fondrèche as one of the indisputed references of the Ventoux appellation. Robert Parker recommends the domaine in the Wine Advocate. Sébastien Vincenti is considered one of the most gifted natural winemakers of his generation in the Rhône Valley.

Food pairing

This Ventoux Rouge pairs beautifully with lamb stew, duck with thyme, pepper sauce with steak, cassoulet, oven-baked Provençal ratatouille or spaghetti with meat and herb sauce. Served between 15 and 17°C, with gentle decanting of 30 minutes recommended, it will reveal all the fruity generosity, mineral depth and sunny elegance of a Ventoux signed by the appellation's absolute reference.