Domaine DECELLE-VILLA

I do not write about 'unsung heroes' in wines anymore these days for obvious reasons. Not until I tasted the wines from Domaine DECELLE-VILLA because they offer some kick-ass, rockingly opulent fruit. Their wines are elegant, delicate, accessible yet complex.

Olivier Decelle (owner of Mas Amiel in Roussillon and Chateau Jean Faure in St Emilion) and Pierre-Jean Villa (a young and talented winegrower in Côte Rôtie, Saint- Joseph and Condrieu) settled their cellar in 2010 in a historical building ( 1880 ) of NUITS-SAINT-GEORGES. They acquired 5 hectares of vines in Cotes de Nuits and Cotes de Beaune and also purchase selected grapes from great parcels, hence the flexiblility of most modern negoce-grower. The Vines owned by DECELLE-VILLA are farmed organically to preserve the life of the soils and the perfect expression of the terroirs.

Their winemaking practices are admirable. There is no unnecessary interventionism. Also there is genuine soft handling of fruit in practice(15kg crates). Each parcel vinifies according to its specific characteristics. Fermentation starts naturally, and the grapes crush by hand. Ageing is one too and two years within the silence(80% old oak, walls quite crystallised) inside the walls of the 228- litre or 550- litre casks(oozes of possible fruit type such prudent use of oak) on fine lees(so textured).

Where tastings determine the duration of the maturing period, which calls for toil and love for the wines, the extraction, as the critical process of making wine, is carried out halfway through the fermentation. Gentle and gradual extracting brings about the expression of the terroir and produces refined wines. Stop investing in Henri Jayer and Coche Dury and starting drinking DECELLE-VILLA, which worth the detour.