Domaine Gourt de Mautens | Rasteau
The Gourt de Mautens wine estate was created in 1996 in Rasteau in the southern Rhône Valley. It has 13 hectares of vines and the entire vineyard has been organically farmed since 1989, and biodynamically farmed since 2008. The vines are aged between 30 and 100 years old with yields kept as low as 10 to 15hl; such low yields bring out the quintessence of each plot which are then blended to create the estate’s signature wine.
The winegrower at Domaine Gourt de Mautens, Jérôme Bressy, was only 23 when he made his first vintage in a converted hangar on his parent’s farm and thanks to the foresight of his father’s organic conversation several years earlier Jérôme was able to begin with a healthy vineyard. The estates wine cellar was built in 1998 thus completing Jérôme’s childhood dream of setting up the estate and making its wines; the first Bressy family member to take up the art of wine-making.
Domaine Gourt de Mautens takes its name from the area where part of the vineyard and the family farm are located. In Provençal dialect ‘Gourt’ means a place where water flows from and ‘Mautens’ bad weather, thus it is an area where water flows from the chalky clay soil when it rains.
In 2012, Jerome learned that the varietal Picardan would be excluded from the AOC classification, alongside a required reduction of other minor varietals to less than 15% of any AOC Rasteau blend. Comitted to preserving the minor but traditional and indigenous Rhône varieties that are interplanted in his vineyards, Jerome declassified himself from AOC Rasteau for his red wine and from AOC Côtes du Rhône for his white and rosé wines, instead choosing to label them as IGP Vaucluse. Unwilling to part with what had rightfully been his since he took over the Domaine from his father in 1998, Jerome has maintained his steadfast conviction in the benefits of such diversity in his vineyards, and opted in favour of tradition over regulation. With his wines now labeled as IGP Vaucluse, Jerome can not only include all of his currently planted varietals in whatever proportions he chooses, but he can also retain the use of the word Domaine.