WINEMAKER'S PORTRAITS

The Château de Rey traces its roots back to 1875. The estate belonged to Philippe's grand grand father who acquired the vineyards at this time. Cathy and Philippe Sisqueilles decided to give another boom to the Domain, thus pursuing a long winegrower tradition from Roussillon. The vineyards were not that good when they took over. But to hard work, passion, and harshness, they transformed these lands into a high quality estate. They reintroduce Syrah (some already there since 1971), and Marsanne in order to complement their range of wines. They have the good idea to preserve the old Carignan and Grenache. They do very little fattening, no fertilizer, so that the yields get naturally low : 45 hl/ha for the young vine plants, 25 for the old ones. They are persuaded, and we will not disagree, that success comes from quality and hard work in the vineyards.

Being a winegrower is quite a challenge. Harvest is done only at full maturity of the grapes, it is done manually, with strict sorting in order to get only the best grapes for the wines. But you also need to have competencies in oenology, to respect the harvest and sort out the specificities of the terroir during vinification and aging, in order to make a wine which reflects also the winemaker's personality.

A special award for the "Galets Roulés" 2005 white and red wines. 2005, an excellent vintage. For the white wine, a blend from White Grenache and very old Macabeux, the nose is complex, supported by white-fruit flavour notes, slightly toasted thanks to the oak aging. The mouth is rich, very round. The red wine, a blend of 100 years old Carignan (produced via a carbon maceration to get a maximum of fruit) and of Syrah and Grenache, are great, with huge aromas and great concentration of fruit.