Domaine des Ardoisieres Refuge des Ardoisieres Rose Cuvee Rhodonite 2024

Grape: Gamay
Vintage: 2024
Type: Rose

Domaine des Ardoisières sits in the Vallée des Bauges of the French Alps near the Swiss border, where ancient terraced vineyards on steep rocky slopes produce wines of remarkable purity and precision. The estate's original two single vineyard sites are the Côteau de Cevins, which was first planted during Roman times but eventually became overgrown and abandoned, and Saint-Pierre-de-Soucy, located on the gentle slopes of the southern part of the valley. Since 2005, Champagne native Brice Omont has been the winemaker at Ardoisières and is now considered one of France's most exciting producers. Since Brice took the helm, this project gained momentum through the 2000s, establishing Ardoisières as a benchmark estate in Savoie. Today, Ardoisières farms approximately 12 hectares across premier sites in Cevins, Saint-Pierre-de-Soucy, and the steep Arbin hillside. The estate produces wines using Savoie's unique varieties, including Altesse, Jacquère, Roussanne (Bergeron), Mondeuse Noire, Chardonnay, Gamay, and the rare Mondeuse Blanche and Persan. The estate has employed biodynamic principles in the vineyard since planting. However, it is in the winery that the most interesting evolutions are taking place, as vinification is gradually moving away from fiberglass to stainless steel tanks, with select cuvées now seeing time in large Stockinger foudres.

It presents a pale, shimmering hue, with a bouquet of notes of grapefruit, apricot, and juicy wild strawberry, all underpinned by a flinty, mineral backbone. With a very low alcohol content of approximately 10.5%, the palate is bone-dry and mouthwatering, often described as having the saline precision of a white wine combined with the zesty acidity of pink lemonade. Vinified naturally with indigenous yeasts, direct pressing, and minimal sulfur, the wine is aged for 9 months in stainless-steel or fiberglass tanks to maintain its crystalline purity and thirst-quenching energy.