![\"2009-10-08_02009591\"](\"http:\/\/vinosseur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/2009-10-08_02009591.jpg\" "\\"2009-10-08_02009591\\"")
<\/a>Date tasted:\u00a0 October 8th, 2009 at 23:00<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Philosopher Grower Vincent Gasse lives just outside the main village of Ampuis, in the northern hamlet of Verenay, in the AOC C\u00f4te-R\u00f4tie<\/a>.\u00a0 From here he conducts his private campaign – to solve the conflict of making truly organic wine off slopes that crumble when you hand work their soil.<\/p>\n Vincent likes to stay out of the limelight.\u00a0 At 60 he is professorial, with a beard and what could be called wild hair, prominent bushy eyebrows, and glasses.\u00a0 In 2004\u00a0 he decided to hang up his boots, and made just four casks of C\u00f4te-R\u00f4tie from his plot on Le Goutay. His 1.3 hectares of vineyards, spread across five plots – C\u00f4te Rozier, Leyat, <\/em>and Le Goutay<\/em> on the full slopes and Bonnivi\u00e8re<\/em> and Ritolas<\/em> nearer the plateau – have been rented out to his fellow worker of the past seven years, St\u00e9phane Otheguy.\u00a0 The oldest are Leyat<\/em> and Bonnivi\u00e8re<\/em> – both around 1945-1955 and planted by Marie Lafoy’s father, Pierre. The rest vary between 1985-1999.<\/p>\n Vincent makes his wine in the most constructive way possible since he feels strongly that the world’s resources are being rapidly depleted.\u00a0 He therefore carefully selects his vine stock, takes special care in the vineyards\u00a0 and when he makes the wine.<\/p>\n Vincent works organically (\u00e9co-biologique<\/em>) and says that there are enormous extra costs in doing so. “The one big problem, he says, is how to work the soil – the rest of the issues can be solved”<\/p>\n “On slopes, manual weeding and working will take 1,000-plus hours, versus just 10 hours if you spray weedkiller,” he continues. “Say the weather is bad, you go up to 1,500 hours. And where are you going to find the people prepared to do this hard work? The challenge lies in the very word ‘C\u00f4te-R\u00f4tie’ – which the next generation is going to have to find an answer to if they want to make true organic farming here economically sound.”<\/p>\n His first destalking was in the early 1990’s and vinification was in one open wood and one open concrete vat. No cultured yeasts have ever been used, and after a cool maceration, vinification would last over three weeks.<\/p>\n The two-year ageing was done in used 228-liter casks (of 2nd, 3rd or 4th passing). All the wine was bottled, without fining or filtration. The first bottling was in 1988, and there was Cuv\u00e9e Sophia made from under 20-year Syrah off C\u00f4te Rozier<\/em> and Ritolas<\/em>, and a Vieilles Vignes (for this tasting note) from old vines that are purely massale<\/em> selection (the practice of propagating new plant material from numerous selected mother vines in the vineyard), without any clonal presence.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Soil:\u00a0 Schist and clay<\/address>\n0,4 ha organic vineyard<\/address>\nGuyot system<\/address>\n8800 vines per hectare<\/address>\n55 year average age of vines<\/address>\n39,5hl per hectare<\/address>\n100% hand harvest<\/address>\nSpontaneous fermentation<\/address>\n22 months on the fine lees in used barriques<\/address>\nNo clarification or filtration<\/address>\n25 mg\/liter total SO2<\/address>\n2100 bottles produced<\/address>\n