Nestled in the Provence were Michel Tardieu was born and that he cherished, the Tardieu-Laurent house is now the entire property of the family Tardieu – Michèle, Michel, Camille and Bastien. In buying all the shares, they also took over the name "Tardieu-Laurent". Today, Michel Tardieu is the only to be in charge of the trade.Very knowledgeable about his dear Rhône valley, a region that he has been travelling the length and breadth of for decades, he is passionnate for authentic wines with character. But to have access to the most noble cuvées -generally stemming from the oldest vines- it is not enough to show a thorough knowledge of the soils and the wines, it is also necessary to build up a personal and sincere relation with the wine growers. In most of the Domains, Michel Tardieu can make his ideas and points of view be heard, on the date of the harvest, on the vinifications... with a wealth of priviliged links behind him, he explains to them: “You and us have been working
a lot, for years, to give the name Tardieu-Laurent the repute of a quality brand. This work gave you, as much as us, the opportunity to reach significant commercial results. They prove that all together we gained Wine lovers’ loyalty around the name ‘Tardieu-Laurent’. For this reason, we made a clear strategic choice: this name we purchased, this name thanks to which we grab the attention of Wine lovers all over the world, this name remains, and will live on, as a mark of quality.”
From the end of the fermentations, all the wines are barreled, at the estate, in the Tardieu-Laurent casks: ageing starts at the domains.
In February, the barrels go to the Tardieu-Laurent Cellars after having received the necessary official approvals. All the Syrah wines are transferred in new oak barrels. The Grenache wines are poured in one-year old casks. The maturing durations vary fromThe modest yields are an essential factor for the expression of the terroir. A Terroir Wine is a Philosophy. From the work of the soil to the bottling, this wine is the respect of the living, of its diversity,
its balances, in order to favour, in harmony, the natural expression of the personnality of each Terroir. Loving the Terroir is, above all, respecting the earth and respecting... life.
“I am not going to sing the praises of the quality of this 2009 Vintage -quite exceptional, all this considered... Others did it long before me and even before the wines finished fermenting, a strange exercise for me, who am not a visionary who reads in coffee grounds!
I wanted to be more prudent. Maybe it is my latent pessimism that dictated me a kind of reserve, or the obvious difficulty to vinify wines and bring to the end a quite capricious Vintage -very low quantities- and crafty, above all in the South of the Côtes-du-Rhône... Finally my moderation appears to be only partially justified.
Michel Tardieu declares, before he precises:
“In the North, indeed, the vintage is absolutely wonderful. Rather few points to mention, for a ‘calm’ year: it has rained, at the good moment; the harvest and the vinification took place without problems. The wines? They are concentrated but without any agressive tannins, fruity and mineral at the same time, with quite unusual balances: they are close to the 1999 year, that gave ‘quite’ memorable wines... Anyway, give it a rest: after having tasted your first glass you will understand!!! In the South of the Côtes-du-Rhône, on the other hand, the Vintage is heterogeneous.”
Without going into the details of the weather conditions of the 2009 vintage, what can be said is that what this year really lacked was Mistral. Even so, the very hot episode of the end of August caused a hydric stress in some plots... As often, the maturations could only start again with the first rains...
The harvest has been slow and difficult. It was advisable to decide individually, to stop and begin again, but better. Finally, after rather difficult vinifications, the fact had to be acknowledged: the best wines will be quite remarkable... But not in the tannic style that could be imagined at the beginning of the fermentation: the wines at this stage appear to be concentrated, indeed, but above all, of an incredible fineness. The ageing process will reveal all the potential of the Vintage. We can still be surprised, with this refined but still secret 2009.
The Quality of the Terroirs and the Vintages can express all the more freely that an increasing number of Domains, partners of Tardieu-Laurent, particularly in the South of the Côtes-du-Rhône, convert to Organic methods. Without wanting to give a commercial dimension to this information, this is an evolution that he is particularly pleased of! This information will now appear in the product specifications. So everyone will be able to keep up, year after year, the progresses made on this level...
Dominique Peyral-BonMaison Tardieu-Laurent
Les Grandes Bastides
Route de Cucuron
84160 Lourmarin
Tél. : 04.90.68.80.25
Fax : 04.90.68.22.65
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