LE CLAUX Gigondas AOP

Very old grenache vines « co-planted » at the lieu-dit « Le Claux »
Full clusters.
Yellow clay and limestony marl from Miocène
Aged for twelve months: 30% in new oak –40% in one year old barrels - 30% in two
years old barrels.
There is always some emotion in a bottle of Claux. If my great-uncle Abert Vaton hadn’t died on the 6 of
november 1918 while he was a prisonner in Germany, this vine would have been pulled out because it
should have been pulled out already in 1914 when the war stopped all the big works. God knows what
Albert would have planted instead : apricot trees ? cherry trees ? olive trees ? vines ?... Anyway this vine is
still with us and it is obviously the oldest of the estate. Albert had had a good influence on the estate. He
was a smart and bright ingieneer in electricity, he had a big heart, he was generous and was looking after
his young sister (my grand mother) because their parents had both died. Since Albert died in Lager
Lechfeld just five days before the end of the war, nobody in the family had been able to « visit » him in his
last place, a cold and austere location. In 2013, with the help of my friend Sebastien Visentin who imports
my wines in Germany, I did « visit » Albert. Thanks Sebastien, it was a great experience, thanks to the very
warm welcome our german friends gave to us. The way they look after the tombs of the english, russian,
italian and french prisonners and the way they preserve all the officials documents related to all these
soldiers is just remarkable.
Campher, peat, wild raspberry grown in altitude.
Bottled without any filtration