2019 Domaine La Soumade Rasteaus: In bond & ready to enjoy
We have been aware of André Roméro's Rasteau reds from Domaine La Soumade for a while, but only first offered the 2020s en primeur late last year. The wines are remarkable for their savoury character and elegance, in a region which can produce wines with hot or confected fruit.
The 2020s are due later in the year, but in the meantime, we have secured a parcel of their 2019s, in bottle and in bond, ready to enjoy over the autumn and for many years ahead.
Soumade's various cuvées express their terroirs beautifully. Enjoyable when young, the wines can also be forgotten about in the back of your cellar for a decade or two, then delight you with their rich secondary fruit and developed aromas (we have recently been enjoying some bin-ends of the 2007 domaine wine...stupendous, but all gone, before you ask!). All this, with prices starting at just £115 per dozen in bond (equivalent to £14.18 per bottle with all taxes) when you order 2+ cases.
Read more about the domaine below, or simply e-mail us by return if you would like to order.
Offered in bond, available September 2022
Producer Profile
Domaine La Soumade
Domaine La Soumade is in Rasteau, in the Southern Rhône, neighbouring Gigondas and Vacqueyras. André Roméro founded the domaine in 1979 and was joined by his son Frédéric in 1996. Today the estate covers 26 hectares, including a new plot of 2.5 hectares of the finest land in Rasteau – pure ‘Argile bleue’ with 60-year-old vines.
The yields at Soumade are low – around 35 hl/ha for the Villages and much less for his super cuvées. All the grapes are picked exclusively by hand. The blends are mainly Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre, the proportions varying a little with each vintage. The grapes receive a cold maceration of around 4 days followed by a cuvaison of some 20 to 30 days depending on the cuvée at a temperature of 32°, coupled with a system of Burgundian pigeage inspired by Clos des Lambrays in Morey-Saint-Denis.
The wine is then matured in cement tanks for one year before spending 6 months in a variety of oak: foudres, demi-muids and barriques. The wines are fined with egg whites but are bottled without filtration. Consultant Stéphane Derenoncourt (who also works with august names like Domaine de Chevalier, Smith Haut Lafitte and La Carmes Haut-Brion) worked with Romero to develop a gentler, more finely-tuned approach to vinification, to capture the unique terroirs here and to express greater finesse and purity.
