Domaine des Pierres Seches – Sylvain Gauthier
Domaine des Pierres Seches – Sylvain Gauthier
France • Northern Rhone
The northern Rhône is today experiencing a vinous reawakening, with a whole new generation of young talent eager to test their skills on the region’s ancient, granite slopes.
Winemaker Sylvain Gauthier of Domaine des Pierres Sèches is one artisan who already has found more than solid footing here in the Saint-Joseph appellation. He started his micro-domaine in 2007, the name “pierres sèches” inspired by the many hand-built stone walls that support vineyard terraces in the region.
Originally from northern France, Sylvain studied winemaking in Beaune. After his studies he secured a post with Michel Chapoutier, then another with Stéphane Robert in Saint-Peray, before deciding that Saint-Joseph was where he would stake a claim on his own.
Sylvain’s native talents are on full display in each and every bottle, whether Saint-Joseph Rouge or Blanc. These are wines with serious soul, deeply flavored yet effortlessly elegant, a perfect mirror for the rugged beauty of northern Rhône grapes.
Winemaker Sylvain Gauthier cares for his 13.5 acres of land according to organic practices, yet the estate is not certified. (Sylvain plans to pursue certification in the near future, however.) Vineyards are plowed either by horse or by hand.
Vineyard holdings include small, steeply graded plots in the communes Sarras, Arras-sur-Rhône, Vion, Ozon and crucially, in the renowned, southeast-facing lieu-dit of ‘Aubert’ on the Sainte Épine mountain in Saint-Jean de Muzols, all located in the southern portion of the Saint-Joseph appellation. The original boundaries and villages of the Saint-Joseph appellation (drawn in 1956) are located here in the south.
Sylvain also maintains Syrah vines in the commune of Sécheras, not far from his cellar in Cheminas, for his Ardèche Rouge.
Soils are mostly decomposed granite, the classic terroir of the northern Rhône valley.
Syrah is partially destemmed (white grapes Marsanne and Roussanne pressed full cluster) and fermented in temperature-controlled, stainless steel tanks on indigenous yeasts. Saint-Joseph wines are aged in older French oak barrels, from three- to four-years old; the estate Ardèche Rouge is aged in tank. Wines are filtered but not fined.
Wines We Carry
To view our current wines from this producer, please download our wine portfolio.