Clin d'oeil L20

What the RVF says in its 2018 Guide: "Antoine-Marie Arena produced his first wines in 2014. Antoine Arena's youngest son has been working and making wine at the family estate for years. He now signs his own cuvées, taking charge of Hauts de Carco in white and Carco in red, and made his entry in the 2017 edition. The reading of the wines and the sensitivity of the new blended wines confirm the talent of this young winemaker. The coherence and depth of his wines are beyond doubt: we award him a well-deserved second star. The wines: they give a lot of emotion, show both precision and accuracy. Hauts de Carco has great purity, a powerful yet firm mouthfeel. Bianco Gentile is a model, with the maturity of this grape variety, without its drawbacks: full-bodied, it is well managed by bitters that reframe it. Bianchi, a blend of vermentino, biancu gentile and muscat, is subtle. It exhales notes of rose and cumin, and delights us with its harmonious mouthfeel, its quality length; for a lemon chicken. Carco, not very extracted and infused, is distinguished by its right substance and finesse. Memoria is chubbier and fuller, but retains the precision of the fruit and the quality of the tannins. Finally, San Giovanni, still very young, offers spicy nuances and a quality substance. It seduces by its dimension"

An exceptional heritage of old vines! The vines are on average 70 to 80 years old and some are pre-phylloxera, some vines are now approaching 150 years of age... and are entirely from massal selections. The estate was converted to organic farming in 1980, then to biodynamic farming in 1992. The vineyard is essentially present in 3 sectors: - Les Bedines; sandy soils providing finesse - La Gardiole; clay soils providing structure and body - L'étang; sandy soil rich in limestone, bringing harmony to the whole These 3 sites are completed by a few vineyards (still to the east of Châteauneuf-du-Pape) in the sites of Saint-Georges, le Rayas and les Saumades. Châteauneuf-du-Pape red blended of 80% grenache, 10% syrah, 8% mourvèdre, and a hint of cinsault, counoise, vaccarèse and muscardin (vines planted in the parcels). Whole grapes are harvested and aged for two years in concrete vats and oak tuns in the traditional style. 80% of the sales are exported.