The nature of south France, Domaine Richeaume 자연을 닮은 와인, 도멘 히숌

Photos by Chun Eun Sue

The way to go this winery looked so simple in a map. It could be told that it’s between the cities of Marseille and Cannes if you simply see through a map, however the reality was around fields and mountains only. In the road, there was almost no car except mind, and I could see only fields just next this small road. But finally one of scenery so much surprised me. It was a huge mountain.

It seemed with all rocks there, the white rocks. I couldn’t image how this huge size mountain was located here. Moreover, is there any vineyard around here? This scenery was too different from what I saw before, also was very much unfamiliar. I had a little fear with this new environment however at the same time had full of curiosities about the winery.

This winery is Domaine Richeaume. And finally I met Mr. Sylvain HOESCH who is the owner and winemaker. I was curious about his story with Richeaume. The founder of Richeaume vineyards was his father, Henning HOESCH. The Germany family, Henning was teaching canonical law at Yale University staying very often in Avignon and south France. He was always interested in agriculture and nature. Consequently, he looked for a place to put his vision of a return back to agricultural traditions into reality. In 1972, together with his wife, he found Domaine Richeaume.

He tried to follow all works in 30 hectares with organic farming way. In order that he kept the original Provencal character for buildings and cellars. The building of domaine seems a part of nature to spend many times here, and actually it’s the well designed art work of famous Italian architect and arts professor. The cellar is designed to use gravity for moving between the various productions, from gathering freshly picked grapes through to final bottling. It was a big challenge.

Sylvain also has same philosophy with his father and now he is managing the domaine. He studied oenology at Marseille and had lots of experience on big wineries such as Ridge Vineyard in California and Penfolds in Australia. Differently from AOC(Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) system, he does have his own way of thinking to make good wines.

So, he does not follow AOC, keeps his philosophy and unique wine style. His wine label also expresses it. The circle shape label shows the respect for the circle of nature. Now for sure, their wines tell us about its terroir. All elements of Richeaume wine’s terroir starts from the huge mountain. It creates its own microclimate, full of limestone, extending in an east-west direction moderates the force of the strong Mistral wind. It proves to be an important assistant of the vine grower for freshness and ensures a slow and balanced ripening of the grapes.

The name of this mountain is ‘Mont Sainte Victoire’(Sainte Victoire Mountain). It inspired the painter Paul Cezanne to paint many of great art works. Also, it is the famous landscape of Aix en Provence in south France. The vineyards of Richeaume lie on the foothills of Mont Sainte Victoire. How this terroir effect their wines?

The one word I chose for their wine was ‘clean’. No doubt for white, red wines also start with ‘clean’, then well-balanced structure. Especially, several red wines blended with Grenache showed each distinguishing character, which was so interesting. Sylvain explained that Grenache in Provence is like Merlot in Bordeaux, it makes different style of wine according to the blending. The top wine I picked up was Rouge ‘Cuvée Tradition’ 2010 (Grenache 45%, Cabernet Sauvignon 45%, Syrah 10%). Soft tannin, perfect balance, elegant, freshness and absolutely clean. I felt so comfortable to taste Richeaume wines.

Being surrounded by nature, with firm philosophy Domaine Richeaume has its own character of wines. Their uniqueness always reminds me of pure Richeaume.

 

 

Contributor, Chun Eun Sue

Wine expert, Chun Eun Sue had worked in Korea best wine magazine as a senior marketing & international manager. Now she is working in the leading wine company in Korea. CultureM Magazine releases her wine & travel essay once a month.

와인 전문가 전은수씨는 국내 최고의 와인매거진에서 국, 내외 와인 마케팅을 담당했으며 현재 국내 와인회사에서 마케팅 및 홍보를 담당하고 있다. 해외 유명 와인산지를 직접 답사한 그녀의 생생한 이야기를 컬쳐엠매거진에서 공개한다.