DOMAINE DE GOUYE SAINT-JOSEPH VIEILLES VIGNES 2018

The Desbos family practices sustainable farming, adhering to organic practices as much as possible and shunning treatments unless absolutely necessary. Crucially, the family uses nearly no herbicides as they plow their vineyard rows by horse, a gentle practice that helps to eliminate undesirable weeds and aerate the soil. Grapes are harvested by hand, and are crushed by foot in ancient wooden fermenters, and then fermented on indigenous yeasts. Full-cluster fermentation helps the family build a “cake” of skins for their 130-year-old vertical wine press, a laborious process you can witness here (in French). Wines are aged either in tank (for the family’s Vin de Table Syrah) or in older French oak barrels (for their Saint-Joseph Rouge). Wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered.