Domaine de la Damase 2022 Côtes du Rhône

750ml bottle

14% abv

60% Grenache, 40% Carignan

Organic

As a fifth generation winemaker, Sebastien Latour continues to farm his estate vineyards in harmony with nature. A certified cuvée which comes from a selection of plots, including a vineyard whose oldest vines were planted in 1932.

The Latour family has been making wine at Domaine de la Damase since 1872 when the estate was purchased. Sébastien Latour works the vineyards and makes wine with parents Bernadette and Serge. He is the 5th generation of the Latour family to make wine there. Sébastien Latour’s mother Bernadette Latour is the official owner (gérant) and therefore you see her name at the labels. She lives in the house beside the domain in Violès, a small village in front of the Dentelles de Montmirail. Sèbastien lives in the mansion of the estate but he’s often occupied in the vineyards.

Domaine de la Damase is small (12 ha of vines), organically farmed and have been in conversion into agriculture biologique since 2011. The winery might have remained obscure to Americans, at least, if it weren’t for Kenny Likitprakong, a Sonoma County winemaker and owner of Hobo Wine Company who befriended the Latour family and imports some of their wines. Sébastien did a one-year internship with Kenny Likitprakong in Santa Cruz in 2002 which was the first vintage for Hobo Wine Company.

Sébastien and his parents make wines labeled as Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône Villages Plan-de-Dieu. They also make single varietal bottlings of Grenache and Mourvedre, which because they put “Grenache” and “Mourvedre” on the label instead of Côtes du Rhône, French law says these wines are technically “Vin de Pays de Vaucluse.”