Domaine Fond Croze is a top estate producing mainly Côtes-du-Rhône. If their first wines date back to 1997, their history as winemakers dates back more than 100 years. Today in the fourth generation of winegrowers, the Long family, at the head of the Fond Croze estate, works to produce organic wine with a traditional style and a lot of generosity, excellence, character and power.

With its 80 hectares in Organic Farming, the Fond Croze estate produces wines spread over six appellations. The diversity of the terroirs on each plot gives each wine its identity, with a beautiful aromatic freshness.

We are thrilled to have added their top cuvées, “ Romanaise” and “Aphrodite”, to our Fond Croze portfolio.

Côtes-du-Rhône Villages “Romanaise” Vaison La Romaine 2020 

“Romanaise” is a selection of Grenache with a very good maturity. Elegant, fine, and silky characterising this flagship grape variety of the Rhône Valley.

This wine comes from the vineyard in Saint-Roman-De-Malegarde. Its exposure on the northern slope of the hill offers a magnificent freshness.

Terroir: Vineyard of Saint-Roman-De-Malegarde, stony clay-limestone hillsides, with a North-West exposure offering a slight freshness in the mouth. Cuvée made with old Grenache vines.

The harvest is sorted and destemmed. The vinification is long to allow an optimal extraction and is done in concrete vats. Ageing in French oak barrels of 350 litres for one year.

“Not yet bottled, the 2020 Côtes Du Rhône Villages Vaison-La-Romaine Romanaise is all Grenache brought up in used barrels. It has a cooler climate vibe in its bright strawberry, black raspberry, candied violets, and white pepper aromatics, and this carries over to the palate, where the wine is well-structured, medium-bodied, and nicely focused.” 91/93 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, January 2022.

Côtes-du-Rhône Villages “Aphrodite” Vaison La Romaine 2020

“Aphrodite” is the marriage of over 60 years old’s Syrah Petit Grain with Viognier on the northern slopes. Very intense and of great finesse.

Terroir: Vineyard of Saint-Roman-De-Malegarde, stony clay-limestone hillsides, with a North-West exposure offering a slight freshness in the mouth. Cuvée made with old Syrah vines and Viognier.

Manual harvest in whole bunches, the two grape varieties are assembled directly on the plot. The start of fermentation is carried out in stainless steel tanks, with intense extraction work. The fermentation is finished in barrels.

“In contrast to the more restrained and elegant wines in the lineup, the 2020 Côtes Du Rhône Villages Vaison-La-Romaine Aphrodite is a big, rich, exuberant beauty with a great nose of dark berry fruits, orange blossom, pepper, and flowers. Checking in as 90% Syrah and 10% Viognier that was not destemmed, it’s medium to full-bodied, has a great mid-palate, and ripe tannins. It’s certainly a unique wine in the line-up and is young, unevolved, and primary, none of which are a bad thing for a barrel sample. I’d suggest a year or three of bottle age, and it should keep for a decade or more.” 91/93 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, January 2022.