Christian ROUCHIER

Christian Rouchier, winemaker peasant on the heights of Saint-Joseph, offers us wines that respect their terroir. Full and natural wines from the Rhône Valley. 

From farmer to winemaker

Christian Rouchier does not come from a family of winemaker, he is above all a farmer. He started out as a farmer, running a small mixed farm.
He bought his first vines in 2007 in the Saint Joseph appellation.
He starts by cultivating the vines and then sells his grapes. He only vinifies a small part for his own consumption.
Gradually he developed his bottle production until 2013, when he vinified his entire harvest for the first time.
From that year onwards, the entire Winery is also certified organic.

The Winery Christian Rouchier

The Winery, located in Saint-Jean de Muzols, today covers 2.7 hectares.
Half of the vines are in the Saint-Joseph appellation with two terroirs, La Chave and Luc, his two parcel-based red wines. The other part, 2 parcels, is in the IGP, notably the Antraigue parcel with which he produces his white wine based on viognier.

In the vineyard

The philosophy of Winery is good farming sense. Christian Rouchier spends a lot of time in his vineyards, for him, wine is made in the vineyard. The objective is to bring in the healthiest grapes possible.
For more than 10 years, Christian has worked his soils with the help of Loraine, his mare who is featured on the bottle labels.
Despite this hard work by animal traction, Christian has been questioning the use of tillage since 2020.

"In recent years we have noticed that we are heading more and more towards a dry and hot summer.

Indeed, he noticed that working the soil depleted the organic matter of the soil, which is the very thing that keeps it cool during hot and dry spells.
A permanent questioning, therefore, always with respect for people and nature.

From grapes to wine

As for the vinification, well, that's what we want: Grapes and no more!
The vinification is done with whole grapes and without any input(no added sulphite in particular)
Fermentation takes place in large concrete vats (as in Beaujolais), with indigenous yeasts of course.
Once the vatting period is over (about twenty days), the grapes are pressed using a vertical press (manual) and the wine is then filled by gravity into barrels containing several wines.
Christian Rouchier 's natural wines are then bottled by hand (again, a lot of work) so as not to disturb the wine during its change of container.
A light sulphiting before bottling is done when necessary.

The natural wines of Chrisitan Rouchier

All this work can be found in Christian's wines, wines of craftsmanship, of passion, rather like Jean Delobre 's Winery (Ferme des 7 Lunes).
It is quite natural that we invite you to discover the work of Christian Rouchier through the vintages proposed on Petites Caves.

A good-keeping red, full-bodied, fleshy, with present but supple tannins (mastered breeding) and this magnificent Viognier (yes, it is), chiselled and slightly fat.

It's up to you to taste!