Château Saint-Roch La Chapelle 2013 | A ‘smokin’ (rhone) blend – get it while it lasts
92 Points, Jeb Dunnock Wine Advocate, The Château Saint-Roch La Chapelle 2013 comes from the black schist soils around the village of Maury, Cotes du Roussillon. the Château Saint-Roch La Chapelle 2013 is a smokin’ blend of 50% Syrah, 30% Grenache and 20% Carignan that was raised all in demi-muids. Giving up gorgeous notes of black raspberries, dusty rock/stony minerality, pepper and violets, this beauty has outstanding purity, vibrant acidity and clean, dry finish. It will improve with a year or two in the bottle and drink nicely through 2023.
About Chateau Saint Roch, Maury Sec and Cotes du Roussillon
Maury is probably best know for its aged, fortified wines, which means that it’s really not that well known at all. When was the last time you had a Maury? Located in the Agly Valley, this region of the Roussillon is rugged, sheltered, and warm with distinctive black schist soils. These are the characteristics that make the terroir unique and in recognition of this fact as well as the prevailing trend in favor of dry wines, the AOC of Maury Sec was created. Maury Sec is darker, more mineral and more brooding in general than wines from the rest of the Roussillon. Grenache, not surprisingly, is the main grape along with smaller plantings of Syrah, Carignan, and Mourvedre. Saint Roch even makes a small quantity of white wine from Grenache Blanc and Marsanne.
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Recently purchased by Jean-Marc Lafage, Chateau Saint Roch is located in the Maury Area of the Agly Valley, which is 15 miles from Perpignan and the Mediterranean Sea. The castle of Queribus, built by the Cantharis, at the top of the steep Corbières Mountain watches over the vineyards from the north. Each plot is now surrounded by blackberry bushes, fig trees, pomegranate trees, cherry trees, carob trees, oaks, as well as fields of thyme, lavender, and fennel.
The soil of the hills is made up of schiste clay with a limestone base and their altitudes vary between 120 to 370 meters. The wind, called here the “Tramontane”, circulates in this corridor between Fenouillèdes and Corbières. The southern Catalan sun takes advantage of the refractive qualities of the schist from this ancient icy plateau to give St Roch its unique light.