Domaine La Bouïssière (Gigondas, RHÔNE SUD)
The original high-altitude estate in Gigondas.
Thierry Faravel below the Gigondas vines his father planted after the war.
Run by the Faravel brothers Thierry and Gilles, whose old-style Gigondas I have adored throughout my twenty years in wine, having discovered Bouïssière during my time working in restaurants after college. The Faravels sell their wines through various importers across the U.S., after meeting Thierry Faravel during our January France trip this year, they have agreed to let us represent their wines across six US markets.
Thierry's father Antonin started working for Pierre Amadieu in 1942, one of the great old houses at the time but is most remembered as planting the most mountain vines in the Gigondas area in the 1960s. During his mornings, nights, and weekends, Antonin and his wife Geneviève began clearing brush and trees in the Col du Cayron hills below the Dentelles de Montmirail, at 500 meters elevation, using the natural geographic profile to marry vines to the slopes harmoniously-- without manipulating the terroir-- the more difficult way to plant in the mountains.
Today the Faravels farm these original 9 hectares in the Col du Cayron section of Gigondas, as well as another 11 hectares between the Beaumes-de-Venise, Vacqueyras, and Côtes-du-Rhône appellations. When we mentioned Les Pallières to Thierry (the Gigondas estate I knew during my previous assignment) he began waxing poetic about a bottle of 1990 that he recently tried, wine of a time before the introduction of de-stemming. Or as Hermitage legend, Gérard Chave put it, "Where is the truth? The truth is in the old bottles, before all the tricks and marketing came along." Domaine La Bouïssiere leaves most of their Grenache in whole bunches for Gigondas, ferments only using native yeasts, ages in large old foudres, and bottles without fining or filtration. In short, a Gigondas that's deliciously stuck in time.
They also bottle a stunning Clairette Blanche, labeled simply as Côtes du Rhône Blanc but with the 2022 vintage has been elevated to a “Gigondas Blanc.” The day prior to visiting Bouïssiere, we tasted pure Clairette Blanche at Domaine Tempier, where winemaker Daniel Ravier showed us the various cépages of Bandol Blanc on their own, before being blended, allowing us to taste Clairette Blanche in large foudres from different cooperages (Stockinger, Rousseau, etc.) an eye-opening excursion, and a reinforcement of the potential with this cépage. Of all the various incarnations of this unsung white hero, throughout Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Bandol, Cassis, and Château Simone’s Pallette, this bottling from Bouïssiere may be the finest expression I've encountered yet.
Domaine la Bouïssiere 2019 Gigondas (pdf tech sheet)
Domaine la Bouïssiere 2020 Gigondas (pdf tech sheet)
Domaine la Bouïssiere 2019 Côtes-du-Rhône Blanc (pdf tech sheet)
Domaine la Bouïssiere 2020 Côtes-du-Rhône Blanc (pdf tech sheet)
Domaine la Bouïssiere 2020 Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge (pdf tech sheet)
Domaine la Bouïssiere 2020 Beaumes-de-Venise Rouge (pdf tech sheet)
