2012 Chêne Bleu "Heloise" VDP Vaucluse, Rhone Valley, France

In 1993, Xavier and Nicole Rolet began the task of restoring a medieval priory and vineyard that had been slumbering quietly for centuries in the beautiful foothills of Mont Ventoux, in the southern Rhône region of Provence. Though several parts of the house date back tothe ninth century, the estate was named La Verrière in 1427, after the glass-blowing workshop established there by Aliot de Montvin.

Chêne Bleu's guiding principle is to preserve the integrity and history of the estate and its “terroir”, while enhancing its exceptional character. Having been exposed to many different cultures and approaches, and inspired by the Romans’ belief in the value of things shared, the Rolets have sought to combine grassroots wisdom with respect for nature, international know-how and avant-garde techniques.

With exacting qualitative and biodynamic practices, the vines have flourished and now yield results worthy of the estate’s proud tradition. To do justice to the quality of the grapes, Chêne Bleu has a state-of-the-art, gravity-fed winery. The vintages bear the hallmark of their efforts; they are completely natural, yet elegant, refined and complex. The label is "Chêne Bleu" after a magnificent, venerable “blue” oak tree on the estate that symbolises the beauty and uniqueness of the vineyard and its wines.

Diversity is essential to the Chêne Bleu approach: the vineyards are divided into ‘micro-terroirs’ according to the deposits of different minerals in the soils, distributed over the entire site. Harvested only by hand, with rigorous pruning throughout the year, the result is exceptional grape quality and deliberately tiny yields, on average one half to one third the production of premium cuvée Châteauneuf-du-Pape reds.