From: Southern Rhône, France
Blend: 30% Grenache, 30% Marselan, 30% Merlot, 10% Mourvèdre
Taste: The wine shows a beautiful concentration of black cherry, violet, and licorice notes alongside flavors of cassis and eucalyptus. This is a vibrant, fruit-forward wine that is a joy to drink.
Pairing: While this wine would pair excellently with any sort of meat-based dish, its richness of flavor and baking spice would make it an excellent pair for dishes such as this recipe from Niven Patel, adapted by The New York Times for Eggplant Ravaiy.
This wine. Domaine de la Graveirette’s Ju de Vie rouge is a blend of 30% Grenache, 30% Marselan, 30% Merlot and 10% Mourvèdre grown in a mixed soils of sand and clay with some round pebbles near the Ouvèze river, not far outside the southwestern border of the Châteauneuf du Pape appellation.
The grapes are harvested early in the morning, before daybreak, to protect them from the day’s heat. Sorting takes place at the winery, and vinification occurs with native yeasts in concrete tanks, where the blend is then left to age for a year.
About the winemaker. After studying viticulture and winemaking in Beaune in Burgundy, Julien Mus returned to his family domaine in Bédarrides, a village located in the southwestern outskirts of Châteauneuf du Pape. Until then, the grapes grown on the domaine’s 10 hectares of vines—split between Châteauneuf du Pape, Côtes du Rhône, and Vin de Pays-designated plots—had only been used in wines by the local cooperative. In 2005, Julien Mus branched out on his own to create Domaine de la Graveirette.
Julien has cultivated his vineyards organically since 2012 (Certipaq-certified), and biodynamically since 2015 (Demeter-certified). Julien’s wines are lucid and transparent; extractions are light and vinification is done with minimal intervention. All wines are marked by minerality, refreshing acidity and purity.
